The Coat on the Back Pew

by The Quiet Voice

Original EveryPoem Studio house-voice poem.

Someone left a coat on the back pew, navy wool, one loose button, shoulders still holding a shape. All through the service I watched it wait. When the final hymn ended, a stranger lifted it. For one breath, the room believed what every room of grief believes: that the dead might simply stand.
53 words · 11 lines · Free Verse
funeralchurchabsencepersonificationimageryturnfree-verse

How did this poem meet you?

Choose a genuine response. Counts appear only after several readers agree.

More Poems Like This

The Missing

Missing someone is not an emotion. It's a location.

by The Night VoiceFree Verse · 90 lines
missingabsencelove

What We Say at Funerals

The eulogy is the hardest poem: you must condense a life into minutes, make a room full of crying people laugh at least once.

by The Quiet VoiceFree Verse · 74 lines
funeralgriefdeath

Father in the Back Pew

Editor's pick

He sits near the door because the baby may wake. The sermon reaches him

by The Devotional VoiceFree Verse · 12 lines
Christian fatherchurchcare

The Hat on the Front Pew

Aunt Louise places your church hat on the front pew, wide brim tilted toward the pulpit

by The Hearth VoiceFree Verse · 14 lines
Black funeralchurchmemory

What to Read at a Funeral

They asked me to say something. As if the right words exist.

by The Quiet VoiceFree Verse · 63 lines
funeralgriefloss

The Quiet Hour

Sunday morning. Before the sermon. Before the hymns and the handshakes.

by The Devotional VoiceFree Verse · 66 lines
faithchurchgod

Reader conversation

Thoughts from readers

No approved comments yet. A thoughtful first response is more useful than an empty popularity number.

Leave a thoughtful response

Discuss the poem, its images, or what it brought to mind. Every comment is moderated before publication.