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.
......
Unlucky Poem #13 (2023 Version)
by Michael Farrell
The fire burning within,
of a once romanticized night.
The machete now lies in my palm.
The glistening of oozing red,
slick as the night’s rain,
Only to wash away,
the sin.
The hour resides, the cold shower,
to cleanse the heart,
and it sits on my shelf.
......
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
......
One Christmas, death showed up
by Amy Michelle Mosier
One Christmas, death showed up
To rip the bonds apart
And they, who were stunned -
Said their good-byes
Hastily at the tomb.
That same Christmas -
Another family opened their arms
To a transfigured man
Who wiped his eyes
......
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,
......
One Christmas, death showed up
by Amy Michelle Mosier
One Christmas, death showed up
To rip the bonds apart
And they, who were stunned -
Said their good-byes
Hastily at the tomb.
That same Christmas -
Another family opened their arms
To a transfigured man
Who wiped his eyes
......
Unlucky Poem #13 (2023 Version)
by Michael Farrell
The fire burning within,
of a once romanticized night.
The machete now lies in my palm.
The glistening of oozing red,
slick as the night’s rain,
Only to wash away,
the sin.
The hour resides, the cold shower,
to cleanse the heart,
and it sits on my shelf.
......
Afterwards
by Ken Ripley
There’s humanity in graveyards
Beneath the cold headstones.
Where now a shattered corpse is laid,
The scattered dust of bones,
A man once laughed, a woman cried,
A child once played in joy.
And each white pine coffin holds
Some mother’s girl or boy.
There’s humanity in graveyards
......
The Old Man
by Ken Ripley
The old man stood on fleecy ground,
Stood tall before the Pearly Gates.
He raised his hand, he let it down,
Sat himself down
And studied.
“Well, sir,” he said, “I need me my book.”
And in his hands appeared a book.
He turned the pages one by one,
......
Little Brown Bottle
by Alexander Palmer
heaven sent, arrhythmia rests
silence from my aching chest
though there's no tombstone where I sleep
all I need is what I reap
the earth beneath my fingernails
bleeds into the soil of verdant hills.
my skin a canvas, often wasted
on trifles better left to rot
now blooms violet among the wakeless
......
