Death Poems
Remember Me
by Margaret Mead
Remember Me:
To the living, I am gone.
To the sorrowful, I will never return.
To the angry, I was cheated,
But to the happy, I am at peace,
And to the faithful, I have never left.
I cannot be seen, but I can be heard.
So as you stand upon a shore, gazing at a beautiful sea - remember me.
As you look in awe at a mighty forest and its grand majesty - remember me.
As you look upon a flower and admire its simplicity - remember me.
......
Kids Who Die
by Langston Hughes
This is for the kids who die,
Black and white,
For kids will die certainly.
The old and rich will live on awhile,
As always,
Eating blood and gold,
Letting kids die.
Kids will die in the swamps of Mississippi
Organizing sharecroppers
......
Lament
by Dylan Thomas
When I was a windy boy and a bit
And the black spit of the chapel fold,
(Sighed the old ram rod, dying of women),
I tiptoed shy in the gooseberry wood,
The rude owl cried like a tell-tale tit,
I skipped in a blush as the big girls rolled
Nine-pin down on donkey's common,
And on seesaw sunday nights I wooed
Whoever I would with my wicked eyes,
The whole of the moon I could love and leave
......
For The Dying
by John O'Donohue
May death come gently towards you,
Leaving you time to make your way
Through the cold embrace of fear
To the place of inner tranquility.
May death arrive only after a long life
To find you at home among your own
With every comfort and care you require.
May your leave-taking be gracious,
......
Can Earth Be Earth?
by Ed Hoffmeister
Can Earth be Earth when all its trees are gone,
And sudsy waters have become unfit,
And poisoned life no longer greets the dawn
With raucous sounds that death has caused to quit?
Will trees no longer wave, with limbs unfurled,
On hapless Earth, that e'er in orbit roams?
Will human ego sacrifice the world
To satiate its lust for pompous homes?
Will distant Space look down on orb that's bald
And ask, "Wise Poet, can you name that sphere?
......
After We Die
by Fathima Shihabudeen
After we die
Will we meet in the sky
Floating in the air
Without any care
As soon as we’re buried
Will we be ferried
To the island of the dead
Just like you had said
......
House plants
by Dorothy Eleanor
My plant died while I was away…
Supposedly impossible to kill
It was a gift,
propagated by a kind soul
and replanted to bring some life
to my new apartment.
I forgot to ask someone to water it
I left it with enough water for a month…
Which was 3 too few.
Impossible to kill.
......
Lost
by Dorothy Eleanor
In the dead of the night there is a cry of pain.
One child loses innocence and a soul commits to flames.
No help hears this call and thus none arrives,
They are left to the darkness with tears in their eyes.
Again and again this same scene will replay,
The child holds a secret they will take to the grave.
They gather their heart now shattered in two,
Trying to suppress the memories is the best they can do.
As the years drag slowly by, they lose their grip;
The memories slip back in and they begin to unzip.
......
A Drunk With No Shame
by Jeffrey Pipes Guice
She was a loving mom…
A good wife, too…
She cared for her family…
There was nothing she wouldn’t do…
She had three beautiful boys…
Her little ducks in a row…
They were always together…
They loved their mom so…
......
What is Joy Without Pain?
by Victor Ambiguo
Awake is the day, and I exist
Therein aloof life’s fleeting hours
Whose currents float me out of bed,
My brick mouth blank, riding mundane streams.
So what is the day if we dream through the night?
Its leather vines wrap but go unfelt on skin.
Some toss, others snore, all coated in black,
While I scour the walls for a lick of dread.
......
