Loss Poems | Poemist

Popular Loss Poems

In School-Days

by John Greenleaf Whittier

Still sits the school-house by the road,
A ragged beggar sleeping;
Around it still the sumachs grow,
And blackberry-vines are creeping.

Within, the master's desk is seen,
Deep-scarred by raps official;
The warping floor, the battered seats,
The jack-knife's carved initial;

......

Do Not Tell Me We Have Nothing

by Linnea W.

[after Madeleine Thien]

Do not tell me we have nothing. We have dew linking lithe
dandelions at our feet, steeped lavender and sugar rising to the
sun like champagne flutes. Suckled honey rolling through ground
away from home’s watchful eyes. We have whispered tongues lifted
from linguistic baggage, treasured remnants of our intertwisted
lifelines continentally knotted. Frantic mapping, path westbound,
flights rushed to lulls with in-betweens where you teach me
how to laugh. We had heads shaken loose against gritted teeth,

......

If only I had known

by Raina Hutchins

If only I had known I’d never hear your voice again
Or hear you whisper sweetly in my ear
I’d memorise each word of love you ever said to me
So when I'm all alone, your voice I’ll hear

If only I had known it was the last time I would see
The man I love with all my heart and soul
I would have held on tighter and kept you close to me
And never would have ever let you go

......

The Lyre

by Chance Wilhite

“The Lyre” by Chance Wilhite

I know where the lyre lays.
if you listen, you can hear it;
those frayed strings
still echoing the tune of
lovers lost in shadows and light.

It lays in the dancing trees,
but also in the grass next to

......

Divine Device

by Robert William Service

Would it be loss or gain
To hapless human-kind
If we could feel no pain
Of body or of mind?
Would it be for our good
If we were calloused so,
And God in mercy should
End all our woe?

I wonder and I doubt:

......

Recent Loss Poems

may 11

by K J

I walk in and you immediately mouth
“You look beautiful”
But you are the one that’s beautiful
My mustard yellow dress pales in comparison
To how you look in your bright yellow gown despite everything…

(Which reminds me of sunshine. You are my sunshine.
Your smile warms my heart and soothes the pain)

…but today they have you in green

......

Songs for You

by Esther Bewaji

It was midnight when I heard the tune
The tune that had lived in the flute that had lived in you
It has been ten years since I saw you
But it's almost like you never left.
The remnants of your lyrics and the edges of you tune have trailed the earth with me like a sore thumb
Tracing the path of my feet and hands
Feeble fingers working holes
Soft lips pressing gently for you to sing
For you to sing this melody to me.

......

Absence

by Elena Corriero

Susan, I wish......

by Sharon Morgan

I wish that I could say, ‘It will become easier’.
I wish that I could erase those five years of loneliness
I wish that I could take you back to times of laughter and happiness gone by
I wish that I could freeze-frame every one of your memories
I wish I could cause you to breathe with ease
The freshness of a cool refreshing breeze
I wish that I could convince you that you are never alone
But that when he visits your thoughts and dreams,
you will remember how happy he made you
And when you ponder the privilege that you had of both loving and being loved by him

......

your best is the worst

by Sarah A

avoiding everything to
getting my hopes up
but still somehow my heart
gets broken
i’d rather be stabbed once
than repeatedly poked
don’t tell me you’re sorry
If you’re going to keep doing it
Stop feeding into my fantasies
All I asked for is transparency

......