Dying Poems

Dying Poems

Poems About Dying

When a family member is dying, the whole family is plunged into despair. It is heartbreaking to see a once active relative lying in a hospital bed hooked up to machines. It is hard to imagine that this is the same individual who was previously so active and full of life. It may feel strange and uncomfortable to spend time with a loved one when they are dying. Most of us feel uncomfortable in the hospital filled with the smells of sickness and death. However, there may be an opportunity to share a moment that you treasure for the rest of your life.

24 Poems for Coping With a Loved One Dying

1 - 20 of 24

  1. 1. Remember

    Famous Poem

    Remember me when I am gone away,
    Gone far away into the silent land;
    When you can no more hold me by the hand,
    Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 2
    • Shares 6222
    • Favorited 53
    • Votes 1026
    • Rating 4.35
    Featured Shared Story

    In 2022, my 2-year-old cousin passed of covid, and I'm only 13, so it's hard to go through that, so this really hits home.

  2. Advertisement

    Advertisement

  3. 2. Because I Could Not Stop For Death

    Famous Poem

    Because I could not stop for Death,
    He kindly stopped for me;
    The carriage held but just ourselves
    And Immortality.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 5
    • Shares 2096
    • Favorited 38
    • Votes 865
    • Rating 4.18
    Featured Shared Story

    Yeah, I agree we don't stop to think that death will come and take us away even when the ones he has taken are staring right at us. My grandma passed away when I was little. I sobbed for hours.

  4. Advertisement

    Advertisement

  5. 3. A Farewell

    Famous Poem

    Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea,
    Thy tribute wave deliver:
    No more by thee my steps shall be,
    For ever and for ever.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 0
    • Shares 1387
    • Favorited 18
    • Votes 351
    • Rating 4.14
  6. 4. A Prayer For Mama


    My dear sweet heavenly father, I come to you today
    with faith and hope; I ask, send an angel Mama's way.
    I know her time is near and soon you'll take her home
    to stroll across the streets of gold where other angels roam.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 11
    • Shares 5968
    • Favorited 75
    • Votes 2209
    • Rating 4.67
    Featured Shared Story

    In my mom's final hours, I found this poem. I read it to her then, and I read it at her funeral. Words really couldn't express my pain. She put me through a lot. There were a lot of good...

    Read complete story

  7. 5. I Let You Go


    • By Jane E. White
    • Published by Family Friend Poems August 2019 with permission of the Author.

    I send you to the restless sun
    Awaiting your sweet shine,
    And in between this world and next
    I'll hold your hand in mine.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 2
    • Shares 1913
    • Favorited 38
    • Votes 300
    • Rating 4.66
    Featured Shared Story

    I absolutely loved this! Short but sweet, this poem has so much meaning and beauty behind it. I am just so touched by this poem, and I can only imagine how much meaning it must have for you...

    Read complete story

  8. 6. A Final Goodbye

    • By Betty Janko
    • Published by Family Friend Poems July 2016 with permission of the Author.

    Do not weep for me, for I will soon be gone.
    My body may die, but my soul will live on.
    Perhaps up to heaven, maybe eternity,
    or be reborn as another, when I am set free.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 3
    • Shares 3302
    • Favorited 67
    • Votes 438
    • Rating 4.47
    Featured Shared Story

    Left at a young at young age I know. You know life takes the best people in the world and those we love the most but, know that her soul is happy and free where she is. She still walks and is...

    Read complete story

  9. 7. Fading Away

    • By Ruth M. Regan
    • Published by Family Friend Poems May 2018 with permission of the Author.

    Fading away, vibrant color to hue.
    Fading away, disappearing from view.
    Heartbreaking symptoms, watched by heartbroken eyes.
    A face filled with sorrow, a chest full of sighs.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 2
    • Shares 941
    • Favorited 29
    • Votes 240
    • Rating 4.41
    Featured Shared Story

    I truly am sorry for your loss and the pain and anguish of the situation, I know it first hand. June of 2013, my father, who had arthritis in his neck and shoulders, went in and had xrays and...

    Read complete story

  10. 8. Dearest Mother, I Will Always Love You

    • By Beryl L Edmonds
    • Published by Family Friend Poems August 2020 with permission of the Author.

    When dementia creeps in through the back door,
    Loving is needed, like never before...

    An expressionless face, an empty heart,

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 0
    • Shares 220
    • Favorited 15
    • Votes 44
    • Rating 4.86
  11. 9. God Can You Hear Me?

    My eyes fill with tears,
    And I could hardly see
    This cancer is stealing my father
    Slowly away from me.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 9
    • Shares 1499
    • Favorited 61
    • Votes 784
    • Rating 4.63
    Featured Shared Story

    This poem touched my heart in so many ways! I'm writing this through tears. On June 23, 2019, I lost my dad to cancer. I had just gotten to meet him. That sounds odd, I know, but I didn't get...

    Read complete story

  12. 10. To My Mom

    • By Jennifer Correa
    • Published by Family Friend Poems December 2013 with permission of the Author.

    In your eyes I see the pain,
    Slowly the tears roll down, they won't refrain.

    I look down to the floor as if I'm hiding,

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 7
    • Shares 1326
    • Favorited 25
    • Votes 822
    • Rating 4.62
    Featured Shared Story

    I am battling brain cancer. Doctors only gave me 2 months to live; that was 5 years ago. I'm now 36 and have 3 kids who need me. Every day gets harder to keep up the fight, but I can't...

    Read complete story

  13. 11. A Touch Of Heaven

    Once I glimpsed another world,
    gilded streams of light unfurled,
    incandescent trails of wonder
    blew my present world asunder.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 9
    • Shares 71
    • Favorited 2
    • Votes 22
    • Rating 4.59
    Featured Shared Story

    Thank you so much for your lovely comment - it means a great deal to me.

  14. 12. It's Okay To Go

    • By Lori Daoust
    • Published by Family Friend Poems April 2012 with permission of the Author.

    You were sick and tired and we all knew
    that God would soon come to take you.
    You fought so hard, so very long,
    but through the pain, you stayed strong.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 16
    • Shares 2649
    • Favorited 66
    • Votes 1382
    • Rating 4.54
    Featured Shared Story

    Arianna, thank you for sharing your story with me. Stories like yours are why I decided to publish this poem. I am not a highly "religious" person, although I have my own personal...

    Read complete story

  15. 13. Let Me Go

    • By Laura J Sanders
    • Published by Family Friend Poems June 27, 2023 with permission of the Author.

    Let me go, release me like a flying kite.
    Let me go, let me fade, like day turns to night.
    Watch me sink, like the deep orange setting sun.
    For 'twas a sunset of dreams I once provided for everyone.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 0
    • Shares 16
    • Favorited 2
    • Votes 15
    • Rating 4.53
  16. 14. Mommy Don't Go

    • By Lauren M. Duncan
    • Published by Family Friend Poems February 2006 with permission of the Author.

    Fields of love,
    rain drops of joy.
    You hear friends saying,
    you're mommy's little boy.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 10
    • Shares 272
    • Favorited 25
    • Votes 886
    • Rating 4.51
    Featured Shared Story

    I hope your mom pulls through and has many years left to share the things that moms and children do together. I went through something similar, but unfortunately my mom didn't have the...

    Read complete story

  17. 15. My Father

    • By Lizzette Cambron
    • Published by Family Friend Poems July 2006 with permission of the Author.

    My father is ill
    And fading away
    Still here for a while
    And a few more days

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 2
    • Shares 157
    • Favorited 5
    • Votes 200
    • Rating 4.51
    Featured Shared Story

    This made me cry, such a great poem. My dad has multiple sclerosis and has lived in a nursing home for 16 years. I'm only 20 so almost my whole life he has been in there. I know once he dies...

    Read complete story

  18. 16. Mother's Illness

    • By Sherry L. DeBarge
    • Published by Family Friend Poems February 2006 with permission of the Author.

    So many thoughts I would like to say
    As I lie in silence another day
    People come, people go
    I am alone with my thoughts you know

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 1
    • Shares 530
    • Favorited 20
    • Votes 461
    • Rating 4.48
    Featured Shared Story

    Thank you for sharing this. This in someway gave me an insight of what my mum went through when she was in the last stages of dying. there were many things I didn't understand in my mother's...

    Read complete story

  19. 17. I'll Be There

    • By Danny Henry
    • Published by Family Friend Poems June 2019 with permission of the Author.

    As the old man lay there, smiling
    at that small and wrinkled face,
    he knew his life was over
    and it was time to leave this place.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 1
    • Shares 184
    • Favorited 17
    • Votes 61
    • Rating 4.48
    Featured Shared Story

    It's a poem that expresses the depth of human feelings, especially at the verge of separation. It also shares an experience common to all living beings. These reasons make me love this poem.

  20. 18. Battling Cancer

    • By Heather Weitz
    • Published by Family Friend Poems January 2011 with permission of the Author.

    Feeling tired
    Feeling weak
    With all the pain you do not seek

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 1
    • Shares 45
    • Favorited 2
    • Votes 131
    • Rating 4.42
    Featured Shared Story

    I feel every word in this poem.
    On June 2, 2010 I was told that I have stage four cancer. Still holding on.
    Please read "

    Read complete story

  21. 19. Mother And Son

    • By Tim O''Connor
    • Published by Family Friend Poems January 2014 with permission of the Author.

    A tired woman filled with fear,
    Her angry child sheds a tear.
    A last embrace consoles the soul,
    While evil forces take their toll.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 1
    • Shares 49
    • Favorited 6
    • Votes 61
    • Rating 4.41
    Featured Shared Story

    My grandpa passed away in March 2016. He was really important in my life, and I love him so much. Yes, I am only 12, but we had so many special moments. He taught me basketball, soccer,...

    Read complete story

  22. 20. Death

    • By Wallii M
    • Published by Family Friend Poems April 2015 with permission of the Author.

    Death...I know you're always with us,
    Wandering discretely in the background.
    Watching...waiting...biding your time,
    Ignored, for you make no sound.

    Read Complete Poem

    • Stories 3
    • Shares 765
    • Favorited 43
    • Votes 275
    • Rating 4.31
    Featured Shared Story

    I like your poem :) I am always afraid of dying. And every time I am reminded of death it send shivers down my spine and I always cry. But now I realize that we should not be afraid of death....

    Read complete story

1 - 20 of 24

Back to Top