There are many times in our lives that the thought, I wish you were here, crosses our minds. Let these poems bring comfort and thoughts about our loved ones on longer with us.
During these times it brings a little sadness knowing that our loved ones are
not with us, but a little gladness knowing that they too would be wishing they were there. Whether you are the person wishing for things to be different, or someone you know,
read these poems for inspiration and remembrance for people who cannot be with us during an important time in our life.
updated July 17, 2024 by C. A. Lynch
Were I to wish in a moment of grief,
That one who was taken come back to relieve,
Though life can be cruel, and death, too unjust,
Would all my sorrows away be put to rust?
Perhaps to know peace would give a reprieve,
For this ache that pierces my heart like a cleave.
But time is relentless and pain inevitable,
This parting forever no comfort is preferable.
So instead of my wishes, I'll send up a prayer,
Rejoicing for moments we shared everywhere.
I pray that someday I won’t miss you as much,
I pray that someday my pain won’t be a crutch.
I pray that someday I will no longer look in the crowd,
Looking to see if you are one of the ones who looked proud.
I pray that someday I won’t wish you were here.
Although that will never be true, I always wish you were here.
I pray that someday I will see you again,
I pray this because I love you, Amen.
Passing Away
Poet: Unknown
The fragrance of the rose,
Whose dewy leaves in morning's light unclose,
Goes not more sweetly up
From its rich heart, as from an incense cup,
Than thy freed spirit from its earthly shrine
Passed with the still angel to the rest divine.
Oh no! Thou didst not die!
Thou hast but lain the soul's frail vesture by,
And soared to that pure height
Where day serene is followed by no night,
And where the discipline of mortal woe
No shadow over thee can ever throw.
Death never comes to such
With chillness in the mystery of his touch:
They gently pass away
As melts the morning star in golden day;
They leave the places they have known below,
And through the white gates of the morning go.
We would not call thee back
To the frail flowers that wither on our track,
Perhaps to have thy feet
Pierced by the thorns that we so often meet:
For thou art in that fairer world than ours
Where love mourns not the fading of the flowers.
Why should we weep for thee
When thy pure soul from every ill is free?
Our only tears should flow
For those, the loved, who linger still below,
From whom the light of thy dear smile is fled,
Who feel indeed that thou art with the dead.
We know the gloomy grave
Holds not the spirit which our Father gave;
That loving, lustrous light,
That made the sphere in which it moved so bright,
Is shining with a clear and quenchless flame.
Rekindled at the source from whence it came.
Thou art not dead! For death
Can only take away the mortal breath;
And life, commencing here.
Is but the prelude to its full career;
And Hope and Faith the blest assurance give -
"We do not live to die! We die to live! "