Grief changes reality. It twists and stretches what you thought you knew, shaping it into something very different. Life after loss isn’t the same for everyone, but these poems about loss hint at what can come out of this new reality: a continual, ever-evolving relationship which death certainly changes, but doesn’t diminish.

“We talk about them, not because we’re stuck or because we haven’t moved on, but we talk about them because we are theirs, and they are ours, and no passage of time will ever change that.” — Scribbles & Crumbs

I’d like to first say that I’m not so sure about the whole “moving on” idea that’s sometimes intertwined with grief.

Grief is more of a moving in process than it is a moving on kind of deal.

We move into grief, lean into the love that is its roots, and work with it in order to live — really live — after loss.

I’ve written it before: I’m at times still stunned at how my relationship with my father and brother have continued to grow and evolve after their deaths. Though they are not physically next to me, our connection remains.

Sometimes, that connection feels… strengthened.

I found this first poem about loss from the Sufi mystic Rumi and, while I could not find the title of the poem itself or its source, it spoke directly to how I’ve been feeling as of late. It inspired me to write the next two poems about loss: but not total loss.

May these bring you the comfort they brought me.

3 Poems about Loss: Honoring Life, After

1. Rumi (title unknown)

“Your body is away from me,

but there is a window open

from my heart to yours.

From this window, like the moon

I keep sending news secretly.”

“You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.” — John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

2. This is Love, writing Home

I am a daughter, seeking her beloved.

I am a sister, grieving her brother.

I am the wolf, howling at the moon.

I am a soul, communing with its truth.

Wherever I came from

and wherever I am going —

that is Home.

“There’s no end to my grief journey because there’s no end to my love for you.” — J.S. Golubich

3. You are the one who sees through me

I can be standing beside someone, so close,

not knowing they are broken —

they cannot know how broken I feel.

But you, without your body,

know life without its boundaries.

You see what the eyes cannot see.

I cannot hide my brokenness from you.

And you, without your lungs,

have become the very breath that I breathe.

I cannot see you,

but you, with your uncaged truth,

Sit with me in my silence.

Your purity pierces me with your light.

I may feel broken,

but I, too,

must learn the wholeness of truth.

“To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.” — J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Tell me:

 Which of these poems did you need to read today?

I’d love to know.

Share these poems about loss with a fellow heart and soul who knows.

What sometimes makes you feel isolated is also your point of connection.

With love,

Jen

P.S. Need more light today? See what else I've written about loss and possibility. You might find exactly what you needed.