embrace our hearts of

men and women, and

evoke their everlasting

memories; their selfless unforgettable

bravery, loyalty,

remarkable heroism,

admirable humanism,

notorious strength,

callous and

eternal love,for

days to come

and always from

your loving soul.

This post was originally published on In Loving Memory Poems at A Day to Remember.

This post was originally published on In Loving Memory Poems at Taken.

This post was originally published on In Loving Memory Poems at Not Forgotten.

By akulkarni1234(Nikhil Kulkarni) for Annavera

This post was originally published on In Loving Memory Poems at A brother lost!.

This post was originally published on In Loving Memory Poems at In Loving Memory of The Man In The Mirror.

A star has been plucked from the sky.
The sky is now dimmer.
It happened on June 25th.
A day, we will always remember.
Never again to see Michael’s smile light up the skies.
Never again to see him moonwalk across the stage as his fans cries.
Never again to hear him sing Billie Jean.
To the roaring sound of his fans’ screams.
A brother of the sun has been taken away.
But in our hearts his music will always stay.
Michael Jackson will now dance among the clouds.
And in the heavens, you will still hear him singing loud and proud.

- Written by Lamar Cole

This poem was originally posted on Free Poems. If you would like permission to use this poem, please see this post for the author’s terms and conditions.

This post was originally published on In Loving Memory Poems at Goodbye Michael.

Flowers Should Be Displayed

When you receive sympathy flowers, these should be displayed. It shows your appreciation towards the gesture.  Depending on the situation, you can place them at home, in a hospital room, or at the cemetery.  When the person sees the flowers they sent in use, they will be very happy.  If you are overwhelmed with the volume of flowers you receive from various people, you can replace the display every other day.   Visiting family and friends can also bring some back with them, for their own homes.

Keeping Track of Sympathy Gifts

It is proper sympathy gift etiquette to remember those who send their regards.  One way to do this is to keep the card or tag that comes with the basket or flowers.  You can store these in a designated place.  To keep track of  addresses, keep the sympathy cards in their envelopes.  That way you’ll be able to send your thank you notes to the proper addresses.   When it’s time to send thank-you notes, simply bring out the tags and cards. 

Don’t Forget to Say Thank You

One aspect of sympathy gift etiquette is to send the giver some acknowledgment.  You don’t need to write a long letter stating how much you appreciate the gesture.  A short note will do.  Keep it short and sweet.  You can create a uniform format to use – there is no need to write something special for each note.  People will understand that you have other things on your mind at the moment.  While you don’t need to write something elaborate, you should still address the person properly.  And at the very least, you should personally sign each note.

These are just some aspects of sympathy gift etiquette that you should keep in mind.  No matter how much you are suffering during a time of grief, it unfortunately doesn’t excuse you from your role in society.  When people go out of their way to send something, to show their concern for you, you must reciprocate properly.  Even a simple thank-you note can mean a lot.

This post was originally published on In Loving Memory Poems at Sympathy Gift Etiquette.

by Kalyani Rajalingham

This post was originally published on In Loving Memory Poems at How to Forget.

You said that dad always liked to take you fishing.
You had the patience to sit and wait and watch.
Crowds of words didn’t chatter in your head
and the squawk of crows was enough to settle
your need for language.
Your landscape was rural—as factual
as a barbed hook.
Your talent was observation and from the fishing camp
in upward look you knew every girder and rivet in Bonnie’s Bridge.
The low drone of tires biting into the grate of bridge road plate
were notes in your margins of ring-worn cylinders and asbestos brakes,
raining down fiber and fumes into your lungs.
And the tart purple-black of the elderberry
growing wild in the shrub and brush behind you
set upon your plate the small hard seed of being.

You spit washed the world.
And the lines of slender death
that you and dad cast out held a spell into the river
conjuring the Channel Cat.

I remember you telling me
how you once closed your eyes
and saw a whiskered leviathan coming up
through the mud and silt. And how you leapt up
expecting to hear a reel go screaming
and see a flash of hands grab a pole
to set the hook—but there was only dad,
bottle fallen from his hand
mumbling to himself something about the war;
and you settled back to watch rainbows in thin film of oil
floating by from dump of barge bilge water,
being was enough for you,
you had no apprenticeship in the shop of asking why.
When evening settled out of light
your play was the snapping of the fire
and the certain beauty of the stars;
and without a word you would crawl into the
the bed of the old pickup and sleep and dream
of barges with their deep draft sucking
the river under them, revealing the slope of shore to channel.
And of the long wide throat which swallows everything,
the infinite gullet of the Channel Cat.
And you would headless turn
in the Sleepy Hollow of your hard bed
and see in swirls and eddies of consciousness
the yellowing pages of years drift under the bridge,
and your children born,
and grandpa,
and grandma,
and dad,
and mom,
and your beloved Uncle Carl.
wrapped in the
Channel Cat’s whiskers.
And when dawn broke
you would awaken
one half century later
to the screaming reel of now
feeling the swelling in your neck,
and the Oat Cell Cancer
schooling in your lungs.

Your lesson
to sit and wait and watch
rained upon our cheeks
as tears.

© 2009 Dan Kantak

This post was originally published on In Loving Memory Poems at By the River.

If you have recently experienced such a loss, its understandable that you might be looking for the right poem to express how you feel about the person you recently lost. It is also understandable that you might yourself be far too mired down in your own grief to think clearly what to say or do.

There are a few important things to remember, when someone has died.

1. When a person dies, that doesn’t mean that the person is gone forever, or that the person no longer exists. In fact, it doesn’t even mean that you won’t see that person again. We are all spiritual beings. When our bodies die, that doesn’t mean that we ourselves also die. In fact, no matter what your religion is, I’m sure you can agree that we are spiritual beings and not bodies. This is one belief that all religions have in common.

2. Whether you believe that people go to heaven or hell when they die, or whether you believe that people are born again after they die, the fact remains that they go somewhere. They still exist, they have the same individuality as before, they have thoughts and feelings, and they may even still remember you for a long time to come. But no matter what, remember that there is always a chance you will see them again – whether it be in a future life, or in heaven. (Unless of course you suspect your loved one is going to hell and aren’t planning on joining him or her there – but if you are reading this article, the chances that either one of you would be destined in that direction are slim.)

With that said, lets move on to the subject of “In Loving Memory Poems.”

Your poem of bereavement can be something which you write yourself, or which is written by a family. These poems can be extremely moving to the rest of your family and friends, when read out at funerals or in other circumstances.

Another option is to find funeral poems which have already been written. Perhaps the most famous is the one entitled Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep (which can be found in this eBook download). But there are many others.

If you would like to write your own poem of bereavement or memory, please see Writing Poems of Bereavement.

I hope this information is helpful to you and I hope you get through this difficult time. Remember, there is one thing that whomever you have lost would probably not want. That person would probably not want you to remain sad and in pain for a long, long time. So – do a good job for the funeral, express your feelings and your admiration for your lost loved-one, and give them an excellent service which you feel they deserve.

Then remember to move on to happier times, create in your life, help others, and have a great future.

This post was originally published on In Loving Memory Poems at Bereavement.