Poems about LOSS!
by Little Dazzy Donuts
Here’s a selection of poems about loss and sadness taken from the weekly Kids’ Poetry Club podcast, including links to podcast episodes and YouTube videos.
All poems are written by children’s poet, Little Dazzy Donuts. Illustrations by Dot Cherch.
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“Our Last Visit”
(available in episode 112)
I remember the last time we went to the beach.
We sat in our chairs, watching the tide.
With gulls overheads, and seals dropping by.
We ate a bountiful picnic, out there all alone,
before packing things up, and heading back home.
How I wish I'd made more of the time we spent there.
I could have suggested we stay, and not go anywhere,
and that we wrap up in blankets as day became night.
We’d talk under stars, and in the dimmest of light,
relish each second of the longest of days
not knowing it would never again be that way.
“I Hope You Don’t Mind”
(available in episode 106)
I hope you don’t mind,
wherever you are,
that I picture you still being here.
Sat in your chair,
with a paper and tea,
providing comfort by just being near.
Then, there are times when your voice
drifts out from a room.
Yet again, you look for your keys.
It was always this way
and my brain, as a friend,
ensures you'll always be living with me.
“Up”
(available in episode 109)
I woke up this morning,
jumped up out of bed,
excited to face up
to the full day ahead.
I walked up the street
to stock up my fridge.
Then I dug up my garden
to plant some more veg.
Then I hung up my coat,
and I cleaned up my home.
I called up some friends,
then I hung up the phone.
I folded up laundry
and put it away.
Then, I made up a poem
to describe my whole day.
Then I placed all my books
back up on the shelf,
and I put my feet up,
and I thought to myself…
after a long stretch of nasty,
and a big dollop of yuck,
it feels like it’s changing
as things start to look up.
“Time Together”
(available in episode 99 and on YouTube)
I love our time together.
Oh, the places we’ve been.
The meals that we’ve eaten.
The sights that we’ve seen.
The chats that we’ve had.
The jokes that we’ve told.
My time spent with you
just never gets old.
And on days when you just
can't come along,
I’ll still walk and still talk,
like I’m not all alone.
There’s a voice in my head,
and a hand holding mine.
We’re together, forever,
‘til the ending of time.
“Without You”
(available in episode 92 and on YouTube)
The temps have been colder.
The Winter was longer.
The rain felt much wetter.
The wind blew much stronger.
The jokes were less funny.
The colors less bright.
The nights all felt endless.
The days felt like nights.
The TV’s been boring.
The films have been drab.
The books had poor endings.
Most good things felt bad.
The highs were all lower.
The lows were more high.
The food was less tasty.
The water more dry.
So, I’m glad you’re returning.
These things will rebound.
It’s not been the same
without you around.
“Thank You For Being My Lighthouse”
(available in episode 99)
When I'm lost in the dark,
battered by a wind,
that's howling and roaring.
A prisoner of the whims
of others and of nature,
I'm tossed back and forth.
I want to move forward
but I'm not really sure:
… which way is forward?
… which was is home?
And just when it feels like
I'm out here alone,
your signal breaks through
like a bright megaphone.
And that first careful step
has me moving once more,
as I plot my path safely
back to the shore.
“Life’s Not A Pancake”
(available in episode 95)
Life’s not a pancake,
a prairie, or map
where we’re traversing terrain
that’s predominantly flat.
As the journey we take
has valleys and peaks,
and we oscillate between them.
For days or for weeks,
we may be loving the uplands
where everything’s right,
the wind’s at our backs,
with no problems in sight.
But that plateau can’t last,
and from experience we know
there’s a time when we slide
to the valleys below
where the sunshine feels distant
and life’s spent in shade.
Each step is much harder,
but each one we take
inches us closer
to that glorious time
when our path yet again
offers a chance to then climb.
“My Museum”
(available in episode 94)
There are walls full of photos
in the very first room
showing the places I've been,
my family and friends.
Pause there for a while
to take it all in.
A pictorial display
from beginning to end.
Then continue the tour
to see shelves stacked with books,
memorabilia I've picked up
from my travels and walks.
And knickknacks I dug up
in some vegetable patch.
All dated from now
to decades gone back.
Ever wondered about fashions
as they come and they go?
Just check out my shirts,
my trousers, and robes,
and guess which year
I'd have been seen around town
dressed up in a look
that's no longer around.
At the end, there's no gift shop,
no place for a tea.
But there's no charge to enter
and there’s plenty to see,
as you travel through time
to learn what came to be.
Come walk 'round the home
I call the Museum of Me!
“My Light”
(available in episode 92)
In the middle of Winter.
In the middle of night.
A darkness so dark,
it absorbs all the light.
You peek out between clouds.
At that moment, I see
when I'm lost in the dark,
you're out there for me.
When I'm feeling my way,
by touching the walls.
Guarded steps driven
from a fear that I'll fall.
Inching slowly towards
a hope that you send.
In this tunnel that I'm in,
you're the light at the end.
You're my lighthouse, my candle,
my flashlight, my spark.
You're the stars and the planets
that fight through the dark.
When I call out for help,
my world becomes bright,
and it's clear, you are near,
for you are my light.