How a poem about loss helped me deal with my loss. A month ago today, I lost someone I loved dearly unexpectedly – my Father. It struck home hard about the impact that a loss makes on your life; from baby loss, the passing of a friend, a parent, a child, a grandparent. It is hard to deal with grief; the grief of others that know your loved one, and the terrible stark space left in your life when someone you love is no longer there. It inspired me to write a poem about loss. Nothing spectacular, but words that came to be a few days after his death when I was walking near the family home, and saw one of his beloved butterflies fly past me on the breeze. He loved butterflies dearly, a passion that lives on in those he left behind. It is a comfort to me that the career he choose as a university lecturer has inspired so many to take his love of Classics and pursue their own paths within it.
My daughter, as perhaps some of you know, is more talented than I with her apple pen. She has illustrated a poster of the poem about loss which I wrote – we hope that you like it. At 14-years, she is more able to express herself through pictures than I am.
The poem isn’t just about the loss of a Father, it is about that loss of any loved one, no matter how long, or how fleetingly they have touched your lives. One of the hardest things about losing someone is that you will never be able to speak to them again, spend time with them, or watch them change and grow with you and the rest of your friends and family.
Despite the loss, the idea that whomever has passed away is still with us all somehow seems a great comfort. I hope it is to everyone who has lost someone. If you need further support, then do stop by to The Good Grief Trust who have more resources and information on dealing with grief. We hope this poem can help, as well as the empathy we feel for you all.
If it is a Father in the run up to Father’s Day; we feel for you.
If it is a Mother, and it approaches their birthday, we are holding your hand.
If it is a little one, that you never got to meet though you had so many plans for them, we remember them.
If it is a child that saw too few summers, we will see them in the sunshine and the smiles, and hold you close when you weep.
If it is a grandparent, we will help you to smile at the memories more, and cry that little bit less.
If it is a dear friend, let us keep you close as we know they would have done.
Cry when you need to, and smile when you can.
Butterflies on the Breeze: Poem about loss
The butterflies on the breeze,
The whisper through the trees,
The crinkle on the leaves,
Was it you?
The sparkle in the stream,
The murmurs in my dream
The efforts for our team,
Was it you?
The beauty that beguiled,
The sounds of the wild,
The giggle of my child,
Was it you?
The fragrance in the flower,
The rainbow after the shower,
The chiming of the hour,
Was it you?
The bobbing of the bird,
The softly spoken word,
The “love you” that’s unheard,
Was it you?
I know it was you,
ALWAYS.
We have given you the option of printing this out as a full poster for the wall, or you can colour in a version in whatever way you feel you would like to. We hope it helps ease the pain, and understand your grief a little more. Just as it has for me. If you would like to print it and hang it on the wall; do check out these rather gorgeous wooden frames on Amazon (UK affiliate link) to help hang it on your wall.
If you are looking for more posts about loss – do check some of these out on the site.
Posts about loss and bereavement
Are you suffering from a loss or bereavement? We hope these posts also help you you navigate your way through this difficult time.
Butterflies in the breeze: A poem about loss
This is a poem written by the editor of this site, after the loss of her Dad. Hopefully it is helpful to others, just as it was to her.
Understanding death: 12 top tips to help your little ones
Explaining death to our children is a difficult topic so we share 12 tips to help your little ones understand death.
Helping younger children deal with pet bereavement
A pet bereavement is a big loss to a child. In this post we help younger children deal with pet bereavement.
Being a Mum Without a Mum - Coping with Bereavement
Are you a Mum who has lost her Mum? You are not alone. This post will help you cope with being a Mum without a Mum.
For more posts with our printables, or other articles, including this with some ideas for Dads, do sign up to our newsletter.
We hope this poem has helped you as much as it’s helped me. Thanks again for coming, and for taking the time to read my story too.
We hope you will come back again.
Helen
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!