How Poems About Grief and Loss Can Help Us Build Our Mosaic of Mourning

Mourning is rarely straightforward, and poems about grief and loss can help us unravel the complexity and nuance of the process. Grieving winds like a river, one that sometimes rushes hastily downstream and sometimes calmly flows along, and often, there is no predicting the waters you will face. There is hazy sadness, tears, and even depression, and then there are moments of clarity, absurd laughter, and brave introspection. It can be confusing, even to the most articulate among us, as grief leaves us bereft of our loved one and bereft of all words. If you have lost a loved one and feel like you’re stuck in a labyrinth of emotion and under layers of new feelings to work through, we at The AVBOB Poetry Project believe that poems about grief and loss may help you navigate it all.

When Poems About Grief and Loss Say the Words We Can’t Find

Loss comes in all shapes and sizes, but sometimes, it is so big and profound that there seems to be no workaround. As painful as it is, the only way out of this stage is through it, but you don’t have to feel alone. Poems about grief and loss give us a sense of shared experiences. There are others in the world who have gone through a similar ordeal, and exploring poetry of this nature can feel like we’re sharing a burden with a friend. These poems use vivid imagery, symbolism, and metaphors to draw out what we’re really experiencing during bereavement, and for many, this can give the process more meaning.

How Time Stops When Someone We Love Dies

W.H. Auden’s impactful poem “Funeral Blues” is often read at funerals and memorials across the globe because it encapsulates quite well the abrupt halt that occurs when someone we love passes away. The famous lines, “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,” starkly portray the profound and sudden stillness that engulfs one’s world in the wake of a beloved one’s demise. The poem is about individuals who grapple with how time seems suspended for them while, absurdly, the rest of the world goes on as usual. For those enduring grief, it feels as though the very rhythm of life is halted, and poems about grief and loss can help to explore this unusual feeling.

The Impact of the Death of Someone Special to Us

The passing of someone exceptional reverberates with a sense of collective loss when everyone who knew the person recognised their greatness. Maya Angelou’s words in the poem “When Great Trees Fall” capture the feeling of the void left behind after someone we look up to dies, marking the end of an era and a substantial shift in our emotional landscape and how we move forward. Her poem ends on a hopeful note, however, calling those in grief to continue living even though they are forever changed:

“Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.”

How Loss Changes Our Perspective on the World

Losing someone close changes how we see the world and experience all loss in the future. Death is traumatic, and when someone we love is ripped from us, the occurrence forever tints our world with a different hue. “I measure every Grief I meet” by Emily Dickinson is one of those poems about grief and loss that reflects on how loss changes how we engage with those around us. Her introspective verses explore the various shades of empathy we develop when we lose someone and how it shapes our interaction and sensitivity towards others. The piece starts off strong with the words:

“I measure every Grief I meet
With narrow, probing, eyes –
I wonder if It weighs like Mine –
Or has an Easier size.”

The poem then tenderly probes at the questions we develop about humans when we lose someone and finally understand how deep heartache can run. When one considers a piece like this was written in the 1800s, it becomes clear that the impact of losing a loved one has been a universal experience for people worldwide for centuries.

Sometimes, poems about grief and loss that are closer to home can also help us start to heal. At The AVBOB Poetry Project, we give writers a platform to share their work with the world. In our library collection, you can read the words of grief written by local writers in all 11 official written languages. Click here to start reading.