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.
......
Marmion: Canto 6 (Excerpt)
by Sir Walter Scott
Next morn the Baron climb'd the tower,
To view afar the Scottish power,
Encamp'd on Flodden edge:
The white pavilions made a show,
Like remnants of the winter snow,
Along the dusky ridge.
Long Marmion look'd:--at length his eye
Unusual movement might descry
Amid the shifting lines:
The Scottish host drawn out appears,
......
A Death That Grieves No Stranger
by Patti Masterman
A death that grieves no stranger
Is witless as a mouth
That deaf eyes do not fathom
Mute singleness of route
As pines a troubled forest
For signs of seeded quarry
We herald the dumbest signpost
To break the traveler's story
A death that grieves no stranger
......
A Poem That Speaks of the Dead
by Oscar Auliq-Ice
In ancient tombs where pharaohs rest,
Lies a poem that speaks of the dead,
Etched in stone, it tells their tale,
Of kings and queens, now turned to pale.
The words they whisper, soft and slow,
Echo through the halls below,
Of grandeur, power, and might,
All vanished in the endless night.
......
An Explanation
by Lee-Ann Azzopardi
When we were together
I would say: Peace be with you, sweetie pie. I love you
Now that you're gone
I say: Peace be with you, wherever you are
I did want to stay
But it would have been impossible
For the both of us
It was time to go
As my heart breaks from the solitude
Only if you could have stayed
......
I lost you twice
by In Kish
It all started one sad day
When memories just kept running away
You certainly felt alone and lost
Your life, your past under the dust
But you had us and we had you
You were hurting, that was true
But you always smiled at me
Even when you didn't recognize me
Hours of silence hunting the walls all around
All you could do was sit there and stare at the ground
......
The Elegy: Raila Amolo Odinga
by Aloo Denish Obiero
The titan has departed.
The legend has entered the hall of heroes.
The enigma has joined the pantheon of immortals.
Kenya’s torchbearer of democracy has crossed over.
Africa’s voice of conscience has become one with eternity.
The world’s statesman has slipped the surly bonds of earth.
His voice is stilled, yet his dream roars still.
His body is silent, yet his vision breathes on.
......
The first death takes the life
by Amy Michelle Mosier
The first death takes the life
And deprives us a simple touch
And a familiar laugh
To fill the spaces around us.
The second death suffers time
To create a widening rift -
Leaving one weeks - months behind
As in abandonment.
......
Sterben ist eine Frage des Loslassens
by Mario Odekerken
Es klingt einfach,
doch es ist ein langsames Aufgeben.
Der Atem zieht sich zurück,
die Augen werden still.
Die Welt verschwindet nicht plötzlich,
sie gleitet davon
wie Wasser durch eine Hand.
......
Dying is a matter of letting go
by Mario Odekerken
It sounds simple,
but it is a slow release.
Breath pulling back,
eyes growing still.
The world doesn't vanish all at once,
it slips away
like water through a hand.
......
