Tag Archives: Poems About Loss

A Poet Picks Up His Late Father’s Dry Cleaning

"Charity" by poet Kevin Young

Poet Kevin Young’s collection “Book of Hours” features poems about the death of his late father interspersed with poems about the birth of his son. The poems are reflections on these seminal events that so dramatically influenced the lens through which … Continue reading

Posted in The Next Chapter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Poems of Mourning,” Edited by Peter Washington

A collection of poems about grief and loss

“Poems of Mourning” is a volume from the Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets Series, which, in turn, is part and parcel of Everyman’s Library, a reprint series that publishes new and beautiful editions of literary classics, mostly from from the western … Continue reading

Posted in Lending Insight | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The Dead” by Billy Collins

A poem that imagines the dead watching over us

Former United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins, who Bruce Weber of the The New York Times called “the most popular poet in America,” writes conversational, playful poems that drop observational truth bombs with a deft, lighthearted touch. Collins is a poet who brings his warmth and wit to the … Continue reading

Posted in The Next Chapter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Affirmation” by Donald Hall

Such a positive title for a very difficult truth

When Donald Hall, the 14th Poet Laureate of the United States, died this summer at age 89, he left behind a body of work preoccupied with death, loss and senescence — a beautiful word for the not-so-pretty process of deterioration … Continue reading

Posted in The Next Chapter | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“A Woman Is Talking to Death” by Judy Grahn

A woman addresses death, and a whole lot more

“we are the fat of the land, and we all have our lists of casualties” Judy Grahn’s ambitious, arresting work, “A Woman Is Talking to Death” is her most celebrated poem, a piece about meaning and futility, callousness and tenderness, … Continue reading

Posted in The Next Chapter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments



One Man Shares the Life Lessons He Learned From His Nine Year-Old Hospital Roommate with Cancer in One Remarkably Beautiful Poem

Canadian spoken word poet Shane Koyczan delivers an emotionally charged performance of his heartbreakingly beautiful poem, “The Crickets Have Arthritis”

At 2007’s Words Aloud Festival, Canadian spoken word poet Shane Koyczan performed a poem he wrote called “The Crickets Have Arthritis.” This beautiful poem shares the lessons he learned about illness, love, life and grief from his nine year-old roommate … Continue reading

Posted in Something Special | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment