Curated original poetry
For a public reading, choose direct images and a steady pace. Avoid poems that offer explanations the bereaved person may not share.
These pieces are shown in full so you can read the collection before choosing one to save, print, hear aloud, or share.
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14 poems
by The Quiet Voice · 11 lines
Do not call the life small because the days were few. A match burns briefly
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 11 lines
We entered with flowers, photographs, folded programs. We left with the same things
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 11 lines
They have moved the table where we wasted every Thursday. The new chairs are yellow.
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 11 lines
After everyone goes home, the cups remain half-full, chairs turned toward conversations
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 11 lines
Your name remains in the group chat, a small green circle beside the last thing you said:
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 9 lines
You were telling me about summer— a cabin, the lake, how this year we should finally go.
Read, listen and shareby The Devotional Voice · 10 lines
God of the unfinished answer, meet us before dawn changes anything. Meet the ones whose grief
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 11 lines
My mother's voicemail says hello with no knowledge of the future. She is probably in the garden,
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 11 lines
You died in March. By April, tulips opened as if the ground had not heard.
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 11 lines
Someone left a coat on the back pew, navy wool, one loose button,
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 11 lines
The room was ready: small stars on the wall, blankets folded into clouds,
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 12 lines
There was a version of me only you remembered: the red coat, the cheap apartment,
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 10 lines
Your appointments remained: dentist, train, dinner with Sam, a haircut on Friday at four.
Read, listen and shareby The Quiet Voice · 12 lines
Do not hand me a reason. Do not polish the silence. Do not tell me heaven needed
Read, listen and shareReader guide
For a public reading, choose direct images and a steady pace. Avoid poems that offer explanations the bereaved person may not share.
A poem can look right on a screen and feel wrong in the mouth. Read your shortlist aloud, notice where the voice catches, and choose the piece that sounds like something you could honestly give or say.
Use the original byline and link when sharing. For a public service, program, classroom, or publication, check the usage note and preserve the poem's line breaks.
Start with the intended use, then narrow by tone and length. A private message can be intimate; a public reading usually needs a clear opening, steady pace, and images listeners can understand immediately.
You may share an EveryPoem link or use the built-in personal print and share-card tools. Republishing the full text elsewhere or using it commercially requires permission.
Yes. Published pieces are original EveryPoem editorial works or approved contributor submissions. House-voice profiles explain how collaborative editorial bylines work.