Death Poems | Examples

Death in November

i was dragged to the sea shore
where i still dance with your ghost
hoping that maybe the ship's rudder will turn back
and out of the fog, you will mark your return

haunting this scene is-
"where waves are crashing onto shore,
there is weed covered in snow
and fog drip from leaves, like it's arrival of my death"

Just For Five Minutes

Without any effort, let go of whats tormenting you... No doubt it's a thought or perception. Watch it come and go on its own... Notice when it next leaves. Locate the space it was in, and silently merge with that space. Place all your attention there. - Just for five minutes...

Even In Death We're Bound

I watch you.
 Always.
 In the quiet spaces between your steps,
 in the moments when you think
 you’re alone.

I tell myself it’s love,
 this hunger that follows you,
 this ache that claws at my chest
 every time you pull away.
 I tell myself
 I’m the only one who truly knows you,
 the only one who can keep you whole.

You run,
 but I’m already there.
 You hide,
 but I’ve memorized your shadows.
 You build walls,
 but I find cracks.

Life without you is no life at all.
 I’ve convinced myself of that,
 over and over,
 until it feels like truth,
 until the lie becomes my heartbeat.

You don’t see me.
 Not really.
 You only see the weight of my presence,
 the hands you never asked for,
 the words you never wanted to hear.

But I’ll make you see.
 I’ll make you stay.
 Even if you don’t want me.
 Even if you run.

Even in death,
 we’re bound.
 Even in the silence
 of your absence,
 I will still be here,
 pressing my shadow into yours
 until you cannot tell
 where you end
 and I begin.


THE TAPPING STICK

Tap tap tapping on the marble floor
A walking doll came in
Tapping out a funeral march
Into the Winter’s air so thin

It paced its way imperfectly 
Along the icy stone
A steel clock making deadly noise
In the bright sunlight that hotly shone 

Entering into the marble hall
Pale dark erect and tall
Into the lighted corridor of my soul
So close it came its breath touched me
A stroke of death felt instantly

Tap tap tapping on the marble floor
The noise it made was clear
The message it was sending out
Said stay far away from here

This place is a place of coldness
A place of frozen poisoned breath
Politely smiling minds are these
But really a place of deadly death	

Across the stony floor I can hear the tapping 
I hear it always while dreaming or while napping
No more no more, stop this awful noise
I need to hear the sounds of eternal unearthly joys

If I Could Travel Back in Time

If I could travel back in time,
I’d go back twenty years ago
When my life was still in its prime
And I could still speak to my bro.

My brother died at twenty-six--
Too young to be deprived of breath;
I knew no charms nor any tricks
Would wrest him from the hands of Death.

We were like strangers in our house,
He and I when he was alive;
Hatred as between cat and mouse
Seemed in mine and his heart to thrive.

So every day just passed us by
With nary a word betwixt us.
No “How are you” nor a simple “Hi,”
We never sat down to discuss.

So if I could go back in time,
I’d go to when he still had life:
I’d laugh with him o’er gin and lime,
And we’d share things both old and rife.

Premium Member When war is no longer a game

Armies ~ soldiers called to action.
War to some is nothing but play.
The reality is quite different.



AP: 1st place 2025


Premium Member beneath us all


       remember the core
  there is no pain in magma
        I was there before
 you were all inside with me 
 and will go back to re-pour

Lost My Dad

28th of October 2025
The day my Dad ceased to be alive

I haven't been able to write
or hardly speak about it

Thought I'd let you guys know
this struggle that I am on

Many of you have come to seem like family
and now that I've lost an integral part of my family
I didn't want you to think I've left the poetry fold

Tears come just trying to write this
I don't like crying
or having to blow my nose
and wipe my face
and try to act composed
I don't like this...
but I suppose this is something we aren't supposed to like
so I guess I got that part right.

Anyway, there it is
on the off chance you were wondering why I quit composing
well...
now you know.

28th of October, my world changed
and got darker,
but I continue to look for the light
and I am convinced it shines somewhere.

Love you Dad.
I hope I made you proud.

Premium Member in the clutches of death

her cat’s blue eyes were the last thing she saw before her eyes closed
vivid dreams that evening were about potential hardships and a new life
She was running across a poppy field, screaming the name of a man
a soldier she barely knew years back, but tonight he was her inspiration
a weird rattlesnake cat’s tail attempted to wake her, but to no avail
she was in the land of the almost dead, traveling the river Styx
a woman who had not crossed over, but was in the clutches of near death
her breathing had slowed to an incredible standstill; a half-life
rapid snapshots of her life came barging into her dream vision
things she had not done, things she wished she could do over
when she awoke, it was all gone, but there was her blue-eyed cat

Premium Member Count Strahd's Pitch

Why do you look at me so odd?
I am your own devoted Count Strahd, 
and you, my alluring love,
are Tatyana, sent from above.

Come close!  Give me a little peck.  
Oh my, but what a lovely neck.
Just lend me a trickle (not a flood)
of your warm, enticing blood.

Your alabaster skin so fair  
and your winding blood-red hair,
engorge my heart and make it thump, 
as yours, does, crimson fluid, pump. 
 
One day, by death's morbid greed,
you will carry my deathly seed.
We'll raise our children very well,
as they grow in Ravenloft's hell.

Hidden treasures


Blessings hidden within images,
Bringing me back in history,
A privilege within the mystery,
As emotions swell within me,
A reminder of a joyous memory,
Building a sensory experience,
Offering yet another chance,
To dance with your past,
We sure had a blast,
The time went by so fast,
The memories of her.
Will last forever, 
A treasure I will never forget.

Heaven’s Playground

It is the worst thing when a child dies
Years of agony and tears
A feeling of emptiness
And the disappearance of hope
You know that your child misses you
They see you in their dreams
And you see them in yours
But for every child who leaves us
They have a special place given by God
A Heaven where children are happy
With newly made friends around them
You know they are running around
Smiling, laughing, and playing
As they wait for their mommy and daddy
And when that day comes 
Everything will again be perfect
Just the way it was before

© Poem – XVII/XI/MMXXV
LRET

Premium Member Sure, Life Goes On, But

I resent how life just carries on
After some are one-by-one gone.
I know we all have to move on,
But I'll remember them every dawn.

I resent being told how to feel.
Only few know how much grief is real.
Sometimes not even time can heal
The illnesses that come to steal.

I resent myself for being so blunt,
For writing to a grieving mother upfront,
After she lost her daughter to a "stunt,"
I realize I wrongly felt the need to confront.

I resent being told grief is meant to go away,
I said, "Will you grieve when I die someday?
Her child died, now she has lost her way.
You don't get how sometimes grief will stay."

Premium Member Rick's Coffee

As I dry my spoon covered in tears,
I wish I had known you for years.
I'll drink your coffee until it disappears,
Or until the jar completely clears.

It is sinking in, I'll never see you again.
I'll always remember you, my new friend.
I thought our fun times would never end.
I always liked your own kind of zen.

As much as I know you are with the Lord,
I grieve your absence, miss your presence.
I let my bowl soak like my face in essence,
Covered by tears, silent like a broken chord.

Odd things happened, a lighter appeared,
Out of nothing, found cigarettes somewhere,
Today, your kettle is full of water that cooled,
But I know, your spirit was showing its wear.

Premium Member The Unbeliever

Everything was wrong.
Gloomy shades of sadness,
knowing she lay
dead on a cold slab.
He'll never love again.
 
His anger could not abate.
She had made her peace,
with her unknown god.
Now he understood the why
of her soft, secretive sighs.
He felt the sunless chill.

No one could console him.
He must bear his loss alone,
knowing she was now nothing
but vapour, since nothing could
exist after life's loss.

For if god existed
wouldn't he give him a sign?
In the crippled light 
feeling like a fallen butterfly,
he suddenly felt a breeze,
caressing his face.
Something rustled in the grass,
and from afar. a church bell rang. 

Fiction

Specific Types of Death Poems

Read wonderful death poetry on the following sub-topics: anniversary, brother, cat, child, dog, elegy, eulogy, father, friend, funeral, goodbye, grandfather, grandmonther, grief, in loving memory, loss, lover, memorial, missing you, mother, moving on, pet, rip, sad, sister, suicide, sympathy, and more.

Definition | What is Death in Poetry?

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