Poetry Genre - Grieving with Hope

"Growth Avenue" New works by Evah Hart. 2009

About the portrait: Hart offers a disquieting, ambiguous and often disconsolate journey into the intimate life of her large Midwestern family. Her multi-year photographic study turns a watchful eye on their prosaic domestic rituals as well as their vertiginous experience of grief, loss and death. As she documents her brother’s terminal illness, Hart’s tense, pressurized detachment bears the psychic weight of great longing and nostalgia. This elegiac portrait convey an eerie excavation - and memorialization - of the awkwardly permanent transience of family.

http://studio-online.com/so/?p=3590

Introduction: At some point in our lives, someone we love will die.
"It hurts to lose anyone who has a special place in your heart." - Amy Mumford.
In my experience in dealing with family members who have lost a loved one, I have come to find that everyone responds to grief and will cope in different ways. Some might react in confusion and want to know "Why." Others will cry, weep and even wail. Some will want to talk a lot yet others will close up. Nonetheless, we will all go through the grieving process, which will help cope with the loss. My recommendation is first and foremost to reach out to someone. Allow time for tears and laughter with past memories.
Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. ~From the television show The Wonder Years.
Most importantly, take some time for yourself in meditation - you should not try to handle it on your own.

My desire in designing this anthology is that you will find hope and encouragement while reading the poem selections. I realize that the death of a loved one changes us in ways we never anticipated. Whether it was a tragic, senseless or just a natural death, it still shakes the center of our heart. Is there even such a thing as closure when experiencing a death? I'm really not sure but hopefully, with the passage of time, the feelings of loss and grief will diminish. My idea is to reach out to the young and old experiencing bereavement.

Organization: This anthology is all about works in progress and if read in it's entirety, you get the whole meaning and purpose. I have covered a wide variety of poetry in prior postings for the purpose of creating a peaceful and calm mood in the reader. I also had in mind not only to reach those who are experiencing grief but to bring remembrance to those loved ones who shall never be forgotten. For example in, "In Flaunders Fields" it reaches out to anyone touched by the death of someone who lost their life in war. A must see is the YouTube posting (below) of "In Flaunders Fields" read by Linus from Peanuts. This is a beautiful and touching way of illustrating the poem!

The period of time for this anthology varies from early 1900's to present modern day time. I have included a little introduction to each poem and its meaning. This will help the reader understand why the poem was written. Each poem was carefully selected not only for the intention of bringing inspiration but to also reach a variety of people who have experienced different circumstances surrounding death, grief and loss.

Finally, I have included water color images which is a passion of mine. These images come from a variety of artists and portray a vision in the readers mind to try and speak about the poem.

Thank you for giving of your time to read this anthology about death, grief, loss and hope! I have truly put my heart into this and hope it will inspire you to share a bit of your favorite poetry with others.

Additional Poem Selection:

The following is a moving and heart-felt poem in honor of anyone effected by someone who lost their life in war.

About the poem: The Great War 1914 - 1918
In remembrance of the deaths of thousands of young men who died in Flanders during the difficult battles there.







In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Canadian poet John McCrae was a medical officer in both the Boer War and World War I. A year into the latter war he published in Punch magazine, on December 8, 1915, the sole work by which he would be remembered. This poem commemorates the deaths of thousands of young men who died in Flanders during the grueling battles there. It created a great sensation, and was used widely as a recruiting tool, inspiring other young men to join the Army. Legend has it that he was inspired by seeing the blood-red poppies blooming in the fields where many friends had died. In 1918 McCrae died at the age of 46, in the way most men died during that war, not from a bullet or bomb, but from disease: pneumonia, in his case.

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm

The following is In Flaunders Fields - Read by Linus from Peanuts


This is a link to the poem


For Whom the Bell Tolls
(No man is an island)


by John Donne


About the poem: There's some debate about what precisely was meant; some view it simply that Donne was pointing out people's mortality and that when a funeral bell was heard it was a reminder that we are nearer death each day, i.e. the bell is tolling for us. Others view it more mystically and argue that Donne is saying we are all one and that, when one dies, we all die a little. This isn't as bleak as it might sound, as the counterpoint would be that there is some part of the living in the dead and that we continue a form of life after death.

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

These famous words by John Donne were not originally written as a poem - the passage is taken from the 1624 Meditation 17, from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions and is prose. The words of the original passage are as follows:

John Donne
Meditation 17
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee..."

http://www.poetry-online.org/donne_for_whom_the_bell_tolls.htm