Call me on, I need to know
How it goes so far away
If you send me your hello
I’d be knowing you’re OK
Give me little reassurance
Just a sign from the unknown
That would be a great occurrence
I shall keep it to my own
If you tell me where you are
I’d be following your way
It could be you’re not too far
Maybe closer with each day..
Mommy, I’m Home
Rictameter
Dear mom
I remember
When I was still a lad
Always want to stay by your side
If I cry I run to you, tears you wipe
But I left you when I grew up
I’m back, own tears I wipe
Stand by your side
Can’t see.
Re-post
I JUST LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH
Loneliness is as a period
Without a full sentence;
It mirrors a riverbed
That once knew water;
Yes, loneliness can be canvassed
As a dried eggshell that has lost all:-
You were my life’s sentence, water, and yoke:
And this life of mine, just misses you so much:-
How can i mourn something i’ve never known
Still I pretend to swim
in the endless sea
nigh of any true misery
only the discomfort of martyrdom
inflicted upon those who will learn
to forget my name
shroud my shattered remains in gossamer
let time feast on my flesh
strip from me all of value
yield to nothing but my eyes
an unmade carcass of becoming
shall drift loosely carried by the windless tide
watching—waiting for the day to bleed into the night
Grief does not belong here
It has no home
Tears shall not be shed where I lay
Irises will not rest by my tomb
Palms will not dig to unearth me
For a stranger cannot be mourned
If they were never known
A DEDICATION TO MY GODSON CARLETON
What can I say, when I received news that you
had gone to be with our Lord.
I called you, but you didn’t respond.
I asked our Lord many times to make a change
in your life, but I didn’t expect this.
My only hope was that I was a good influence
in your life, and that you felt you could depend on me.
I hate to see you go this way, but it seems
to have been the only
choice, if you can call it a choice.
I will miss you terribly.
So long, my dear Carleton.
I will always love you.
Written: September 12, 2026, Not For Contest
I kindly request that everyone who read the poem offer a prayer for the world and attentively listen the lyrics in the video, to provide feedback on whether incorporating music into the poem would be useful or not, Thanks for your kindness.
*******************
Dear World, I bring no Banner—
No trumpet for the brave—
But only hands grown weary
Of teaching hands to wave—
Let every border soften
Where frightened hearts divide—
And may the stranger's sorrow
Find shelter at our side—
The Earth has borne our thunder
Through cities turned to flame—
Yet still She gives us harvests
And calls us each by Name—
So let us choose the gentler—
The mercy we withhold—
For Peace begins so quietly—
One Heart—then another—held.
Not Built For Goodbye
I wonder if you somehow knew?
When you heard my infant cry.
That I was somewhat different.
Im not built for goodbye.
As a child at play with friends
How I longed for them to stay.
But when they’re mother called them in
I’d watch them walk away.
It seems I would grow used to it.
When there’s goodbyes I must bare.
No matter just how hard I tried.
God knows I’ve known my share.
When lovers left, the tears would fall.
Could it be it’s my mistake?
Each love when it reached its end.
Again my heart would break.
I knew one day the day would come.
You would spread your wings and fly.
And on that day I must be strong.
But I’m not built for goodbye.
So mother, turn away from me.
So you won’t see me cry.
The child once held inside your womb.
Not built for goodbye.
Edwin C Hofert
PoetrySoup Weekly Challenge
Theme: Memory
Emotion: Hope
Color: Gold
Season: Late Summer
Form: Free Verse
Object: Lantern
Verb: Remember
As the snow melts on the mountain
And a trickle began to fill the fountain
Filling the drained spring below
Then the river begins to flow
Snow on the mountain
A fire in the hearth
Snow on the mountain
Losing you broke my heart
I remember when our love was young
Sometimes the lights would go out
We'd light the lantern to see how to walk
But never has it snowed this early before
That snow covered the gold poplar
All the leaves turned brown and fell
This shouldn't happen in late summer
But on this we couldn't dwell
Snow on the moutain
A fire in the hearth
Snow on the mountain
Losing you broke my heart
Your hair was thin and white
Your hearing had disappeared
But you kept going and going
Until your health disappeared
Snow on the mountain
A fire in the hearth
Snow on the mountain
Losing you broke my heart
I know we'll meet again my love
Jesus is waiting for me to come home
That will be a great reunion
Happiness we'll all share
If you love wealth, do not love me
For there are many who are richer than me
If you love beauty, do not love me
For there are many who are more beautiful than me
Yet if it is love that you love, only love me
For there is no one who loves you more than I.
(Repost of a former poem, “If I Could Change The Past,” written 2016)
September eleven, two-thousand-one-
dark age of homeland terror had begun.
If only I could change this horrid past-
alleviate deep pain from grief at last.
Three thousand souls were lost forever, then:
three hundred forty-three were brave firemen,
so many whom I'd come to know before,
when they'd stop by our fire equipment store.
Our County is just sixty miles away
from New York City, South of us, and they
would often live up North in New York State,
commute each shift- but many met their fate.
One family resided on our street.
That morning, he left home- for death to meet.
So many others we will never see
who purchased goods from us so faithfully.
For those who died, whose bodies were not found,
we gifted presentation helmets bound
to loved ones for the funerals they held.
Such awful, somber days, unparalleled.
If I could change the past and turn back time,
erase that day of tragedy and crime,
my heart, with all the others, would rejoice
that these poor souls could live a life of choice.
After four years of marriage
I cannot remember my life before
You turned my life around
Showed me life was so much more
Now every memory is of us
Every thought is about you
In everything that I partake
It's a reminder of you
You loved me when I was down
But I never made it to my feet
I was pulling you with me
With my anger and deceit
As you walked away I saw
That you had tears in your eyes
I know it wasn't easy for you
And I had had a million tries
You won't answer your phone
You refuse to talk to me anymore
That hurts my already broken heart
That shattered here on the floor
I wouldn't change a thing
About all our good times at least
But I'd change every argument
And I never would be that beast
It pains my soul I no longer
Possess your heart anymore
An emptiness now fills me
I lost the woman who I adore
Your life keeps moving on
Mine has been derailed
It's my fault I'm the reason
That our marriage failed
The idea of you not being here
Is slowly killing me inside
How am I supposed live
Without the love you provide
You are all I desire in my life
You are all I'll ever need
Let me love you better
Come home I plead
How will my absence affect those I hold dear?
Leaving my children too soon is my biggest fear.
How will they navigate this world and thrive?
As their father, forever is how long I wish to survive.
I often wonder when I go to sleep for the last time,
what will be said of this life of mine.
Will it be kind words and a stirring eulogy?
Well, that’s for the ears of the living and of no use to me!
I’m sure there’ll be those with empty words
amounting to useless chatter.
Of course, I won’t hear them,
so that’s of little matter.
Some hearts might ache and yearn for my essence.
Still, no number of tears will bring back my presence.
When the casket is closed and dirt is thrown,
exactly how long before loved ones move on?
Should that even be a thought
if technically I’m gone?
I guess in death the only choice
is to leave matters of the living alone.
Perhaps within each lifetime it is said
we may cry an ounce of tears -
yet form rainbows again.
In purpose to uplift the spirit
I got up and said hey ho
I thought, if you could hear it
You’d likely say, hello
I heard your muffled cough
Through the ajar kitchen door
I dashed to see you, love
I passed the corridor
I popped into the sitting room
And checked the bedroom too
I smelled no Gatineau perfume
I saw no sign of you
It wasn’t a trick of tired mind
I’ve heard your cough, I swear
But you were out of sight
Just when I thought you’re there
Inside a room, or maybe
Out in the pretty wild
My garden on the balcony
It could’ve made you smile.
Bereavement Categories
Definition | What is Bereavement in Poetry?
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