By The loss of a child is world shattering. Whether it be pregnancy loss, failed IVF, infant death, or a child’s death, the experience is often referred to as one of the greatest pains someone can endure in this life. As Jay Neugeboren famously said “There is no word for a parent who loses a child. That’s how awful the loss is.”
Everyone’s experience with grief and loss is different and this form of grief has its own spectrum of challenges. Grieving the loss of pregnancy, infant, or child can garner intense feelings in parents and loved ones for weeks, months, and years to come. Poems, poetry, and quotes can be grounding and affirming for those carrying parental grief.
Poems for Grieving Parents: Finding Comfort and Healing after Losing a Child
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Little Butterfly by Amy Farquhar
I lived my life inside you
Cocooned in all your love
So mama, papa, please don’t cry
I’m still with you, just up above
I felt your every heartbeat
It’s my sweetest melody
And for every heavenly bedtime
The Angels play it back to me
I know how much that I am wanted
I feel so very blessed
Of all the mummy’s in all the world
I got the very best!
You think of me in all your waking hours,
And on those sleepless nights
Just look out the window and you’ll find me
The brightest star, the most dazzling light
I’m that little breeze in the summer
And I’m that unexpected white feather
I plucked it from my downy wings
So that you remember we are always together
I know how much It hurt your soul
When we had to say goodbye
But I’m not gone, in always here
I’m your sweet little butterfly.
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Garden Of Stone by Michael Kaner
He wiped away the snow
And laid down a single rose.
Thinking of what might have been,
And pain only the bereaved knows.
Another tear falls in a garden of stone…..
He could have been president,
A ballplayer or won a Nobel prize.
But it’ll never come to be,
And we’ll never look into his eyes.
They said it was routine,
Don’t worry, we do it every day.
But something went oh so wrong,
Now they don’t know what to say.
Another tear falls in a garden of stone…..
We watched the tubes and wires,
And they said that he was gone.
A life snuffed out too early,
Never to see another dawn.
Another tear falls
In the garden of stone.
Another day passes
And they’re all alone.
The world gets older
But he’s still two.
And we dream of things,
He’ll never do.
He’ll never ride a two wheeler,
Or take a bus to school.
All we have are our memories,
We’ve lost our precious jewel.
Never play in little league
Never steal a first kiss,
We think of all those things
He’s going to miss.
Never go to college,
Never walk down the aisle,
Never know the joys of parenthood.
We miss him all the while.
Another tear falls in the garden of stone.
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Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
and before the street begins,
and there the grass grows soft and white,
and there the sun burns crimson bright,
and there the moon-bird rests from his flight
to cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
and the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
we shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow
and watch where the chalk-white arrows go
to the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
and we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
for the children, they mark, and the children, they know,
the place where the sidewalk ends.
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Her Name Sings My Soul -Author Unknown
The mention of my child’s name
May bring tears to my eyes,
But it never fails to bring
Music to my ears.
If you are really my friend,
Let me hear the beautiful music of her name.
It soothes my broken heart
And sings to my soul.
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Time Adventure by Rebecca Sugar
Time is an illusion that helps things make sense
So we are always living in the present tense
It seems unforgiving when a good thing ends
But you and I will always be back then
You and I will always be back then
If there was some amazing force outside of time
To take us back to where we were
And hang each moment up like pictures on the wall
Inside a billion tiny frames so that we could see it all, all, all
It would look like: will happen, happening, happened
Will happen, happening, happened
And there we are again and again
‘Cause you and I will always be back then
You and I will always be back then
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Teddy Bear by Ron Tranmer
It’s my very favorite place.
I feel closer to you there.
We rock the hours away.
Me and your Teddy Bear.
The rocking chair is squeaking,
As rocking chairs will do.
I pretend the one I’m holding
Isn’t Teddy Bear, but you.
I miss your little chubby cheeks.
They were so fun to kiss.
Cuddling you, and hearing you goo
Are among the things I miss.
Precious memories of you linger.
My child I miss you so.
I hope one day my heart will heal.
It’s hard to let you go.
When in time God calls me home
To be with you up there;
With joy I’ll hold you in my arms
Instead of Teddy Bear.
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Today Was The Day – Author Unknown
Today was the day,
You were looking forward to.
Today was the day
Your dreams should have come true.
Today is the day
Your arms are left bare.
Today is the day
We remember your lost one, so dear.
Today is another day
Where your baby flies free.
Today is another day
Where pain and suffering never can be.
Today is another day
In clouds with angels at play.
Today is a good day
To remember you’ll be together again someday.
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The Cord by Amy Merrick
We are connected,
My child and I, by
An invisible cord
Not seen by the eye.
It’s not like the cord
That connects us ’til birth
This cord can’t been seen
By any on Earth.
This cord does it’s work
Right from the start.
It binds us together
Attached to my heart.
I know that it’s there
Though no one can see
The invisible cord
From my child to me.
The strength of this cord
Is hard to describe.
It can’t be destroyed
It can’t be denied.
It’s stronger than any cord
Man could create
It withstands the test
Can hold any weight.
And though you are gone,
Though you’re not here with me,
The cord is still there
But no one can see.
It pulls at my heart
I am bruised…I am sore,
But this cord is my lifeline
As never before.
I am thankful that God
Connects us this way
A mother and child
Death can’t take it away!
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