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Welcome to the SevenPonds.com blog – a community-driven extension of SevenPonds.com! I hope you find comfort and community in the resources and stories featured here. I’m always happy to hear from readers and can be reached at suzette@sevenponds.com.
FEATURED
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Poetree: The Innovative Urn: Margaux Ruyant's urn honors the life of the deceased while cultivating the new life of a tree -
Putting It Back Together: Exploring Grief through a near-death experience: A 21-year-old woman's near-fatal accident alters her relationship with life. -
Buddhism and the Eastern Middle Ground: In Buddhist tradition, our death falls into a plane of existence that continues even after our final breath
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Categories
Category Archives: The Next Chapter
“Father” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
A poem about appreciation and rememberance for our fathers as we approach Father’s Day
As we approach Father’s Day this Sunday, it becomes particularly important to make time for our fathers by sending them a card or remembering to give them a call. For those of us who still have our fathers in our … Continue reading
Posted in The Next Chapter
Tagged Children and grief, Death of Father, Death of Father Poem, Death Poem, Death Quotes for Dad, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Family, Father's Day, honor father, Poems about dads, Poetry, Poetry and healing, Remembering a Father, sayings about dad, things for dad
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Talking About Death and Releasing Fear
Ram Dass explains how talking about death can help release our fear of dying
Recently we spoke with Jon Underwood on the topic of Death Cafes. In the article (which you can find here), we discussed how important it is to have a safe environment where we can talk openly about death. In this … Continue reading
Accepting Death While Living Life
Mark Nepo lends some insight about accepting our ultimate fate in The Book of Awakening
I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that, here at SevenPonds, we’ve talked several times before about accepting our deaths and embracing the unknown. We know there are benefits to accepting death: making the end-of-life experience more peaceful, helping us move … Continue reading
“Death is a Dialogue” by Emily Dickinson
A dialogue between death and spirituality in an Emily Dickinson poem offers an interesting perspective
Emily Dickinson, one of the greatest American poets of all time, is no lightweight when it comes to exploring death. In her poem “Death is a Dialogue,” Dickinson touches on a few contrasting ideas that portray death as a complex … Continue reading
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Tagged Afterlife, Death, Death is a Dialogue, Death Poem, Diction, Emily Dickinson, Healing, Metaphor, Mystical, Poetry, Religion and Spirituality, Spirituality, Symbolism, Trust
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Walt Whitman’s “Whispers of Heavenly Death”
Exploring the unknowns after death through poetry
Walt Whitman’s poetry has been immortalized by his beautiful, visceral tributes to nature that leave us rethinking our ideas of the world around us. Whitman begins triumphantly in “Whispers of Heavenly Death” as though he wants his readers to picture … Continue reading
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Tagged Death, Death Poems, Poetry, Walt Whitman, Whispers of Heavenly Death
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“Another Weeping Woman” by Wallace Stevens
Earnest advice for grieving, moving on and cherishing a loved one’s memory
In “Another Weeping Woman,” by Wallace Stevens, we are given earnest advice to move on and let go. While we at SevenPonds suggest you take your time with the grieving process and give you emotions as much attention as they … Continue reading
Ann Patchett’s Assessment of the Question, “What Now?”
Taking graduation advice and applying it to our everyday lives
As spring approaches, and with it, graduations across the country, I like to find the time to reflect on Ann Patchett’s 2008 graduation speech and short book, What Now? A friend gave it to me a while back in … Continue reading
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Tagged Ann Patchett, Life Advice, Life and Death, Living Well, The Next Chapter, What now?
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“The Monks and Me” by Mary Paterson
Learning grace and gratitude in unexpected places
After her father passed away, Mary Paterson needed to find stability in her life again. As an experienced yoga instructor, she’d relied on yoga and meditation to keep her centered before, but this time it wasn’t enough. So she decides … Continue reading
Reflecting on Life and Death in Les Misérables
It’s a classic for a reason
At this point, it might feel superfluous to talk about Les Mis. It’s a literary classic that’s been adapted time and time again into film. To be honest, I’m tired of seeing trailers of Anne Hathaway belting her heart out … Continue reading
Fluctuating Emotions and Questions About Death
On this fiftieth anniversary of The Bell Jar, we look at one of Plath’s most complex characters
Recently, The Guardian posted a tribute to Sylvia Plath with reflections from writers such as Jennifer Egan and Lena Dunham. Published fifty years ago, Sylvia Plath created in The Bell Jar a surprisingly relatable suicidal character that navigates womanhood in … Continue reading
Parting Ways
Katherine Gallagher's poem shows that everything is about perspective
I chose this week’s poem because I loved its mixture of imagery and metaphor. Its title alone, “Cloud-Eye,” foreshadows this use of figurative language. And incidentally, foreshadowing is an important part of the poem as well. Katherine Gallagher uses each … Continue reading
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Tagged Cloud-Eye, Katherine Gallagher, Katherine Gallagher Poems, Poems About Loss
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Honoring an Old Friend
Robert Burns's "Epitaph on William Muir" offers a sweet final farewell
Photo Credit: deshow.net Written for a good friend of his, “Epitaph on William Muir,” by Robert Burns, is everything an epitaph should be: it conveys love and reverence, and shows hope for Muir, rather than pessimism. It’s brief, but still meaningful: … Continue reading
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Tagged Epitaph on William Muir, Famous Epitaphs, Robert Burns, Robert Burns Poems
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The Perfection of “Perfection Wasted”
The lovely John Updike poem turns a simple idea into so much more
Photo Credit: The Weather Channel Sometimes, there are obvious truths in life that, when pointed out, take on a whole new meaning. At least, that’s how I felt after I read “Perfection Wasted,” by John Updike. Maybe my opinion of … Continue reading
Looking Forward
Delmore Schwartz's famous short story illustrates that it's the future we can change, not the past
Photo Credit: Crandell Theatre I was cleaning out my garage the other day, and I found a book of short stories that I had bought for a class in college. I immediately went to the table of contents and searched … Continue reading
Finding Happiness
Christina Rossetti reminds us that grief need not be permanent
Photo Credit: myheartramblings Christina Rossetti’s “Remember” took me somewhat by surprise. The final message in the poem is that, in a sense, ignorance is bliss; Rossetti feels that not thinking about a loss and therefore not feeling the emotional pain … Continue reading
The Year’s “Death”
William Cullen Bryant compares the end of the year to the end-of-life experience
It’s the end of the year; what a fitting time for a blog about, well, “the end.” And just as fittingly, this week’s selection is “A Song for New Year’s Eve,” by William Cullen Bryant. The piece is about how … Continue reading
The Holiday Spirit
The poem that inspired "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" carries an important message
Photo Credit: wallpaperhere.com You’ve probably heard the Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” at some point (maybe even this Christmas season), but did you know that it was inspired by a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow? The … Continue reading
The Inevitability of Grief
Discussing this unavoidable state as it pertains to "The Changeling"
A couple months ago, I mentioned a book of plays that I had loaned to my mom. I didn’t think I’d ever bring that story up on this site again, but in fact, this week I’m examining a passage from … Continue reading
Dealing with Grief
Ted Kooser's "New Moon" illustrates how difficult it can be to handle sorrow
Photo Credit: Farmers’ Almanac Reading Ted Kooser’s poem “New Moon” got me thinking about when I find the moon most beautiful. I have to say, I don’t think anything tops a brightly-lit full moon that almost makes it seem like … Continue reading
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Tagged New Moon, New Moon Poem, Poems about Grief, Poems about Sorrow, Ted Kooser
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The “Bliss of Dying”
Alexander Pope's "The Dying Christian to his Soul" offers a Christian take on death
Photo Credit: SodaHead Alexander Pope was highly religious (he was Catholic, despite living in England during an era that was very anti-Catholic), so it’s not surprising that his piece, “The Dying Christian to his Soul,” is filled with spiritual references. … Continue reading
