Browse poems about different kinds of grief and mourning, including poems about the loss of parents, loved ones, and friends.
“Farewell” by Francisca Aguirre
To say goodbye means so little...
“Equinox” by Elizabeth Alexander
Now is the time of year when bees are wild…
“Rooms Remembered” by Laure-Anne Bosselaar
I needed, for months after he died…
“White Apples” by Donald Hall
when my father had been dead a week…
“The Sadness of Clothes” by Emily Fragos
When someone dies, the clothes are so sad…
“Hey Phil” by Juan Felipe Herrera
They are writing about you Phil—you know…
“It Was Like This: You Were Happy” by Jane Hirshfield
It was like this...
“What Came to Me” by Jane Kenyon
I took the last…
“Mozart Songbook” by Joan Larkin
Outside on Fremont Ave, black…
“Eating Together” by Li-Young Lee
In the steamer is the trout…
“Little Father” by Li-Young Lee
I buried my father…
“Do Not Speak of the Dead” by Cecilia Llompart
I was born among the bodies. I was hurried…
“René Descartes and the Clockwork Girl” by Kathryn Nuernberger
In man, it was written, are found the elements…
“Ever” by Meghan O’Rourke
Even now I can’t grasp “nothing” or “never”...
“Untitled” by Gregory Orr
This is what was bequeathed us…
“O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman
O Captain! my Captain! Our fearful trip is done…
“Eulogy” by Kevin Young
To allow silence…
Find more poems curated by theme on our Poems for Kids page, which features many poems suitable for teen readers.