
The Boy in You
©2018 Susan Noyes Anderson

image by Noelle Pim on Unsplash
The boy in you lives on in me.
I hold close every memory
of soft blue eyes and thoughtful gaze
and all your cute, endearing ways.
Not one of us will pass through life without being touched by death and grieving. Initially, I had only a handful of poems about death and losing loved ones and did not feel a specific category on that topic was necessary for this website. Sadly, after losing my youngest son in 2018, that has changed. This new topic includes 40 poems about death and grieving, written as part of my own grieving process. I hope this category will make it easier for other bereaved parents to find and use them as part of their own healing. My poems about death are here for non-commercial purposes only. Please include full copyright information on every copy, emailing a request for permission before using. For internet use, a link back to this site is required. May peace and comfort be yours on this difficult path.
FINDING THE POEM YOU WANT: As you scroll through this section, simply read each snippet sample (usually the first four lines) to get a feel for the poem. When you find something you like, click “CONTINUE READING” to view the entire poem.
The boy in you lives on in me.
I hold close every memory
of soft blue eyes and thoughtful gaze
and all your cute, endearing ways.
Sometimes, my brain works overtime,
hell-bent to redesign the past.
What if… If only… Why… Why not…
a litany of grief miscast.
What do others see
who look at me
I am cracked pot
bird with broken wing
severed vine
unwilling shrine
The pair of you lit up our hearts,
shoulder-to-shoulder, full-grown men.
We saw in you the boys you were,
recalled the sweetness that had been.
I look ahead and loathe the view,
a tunnel of days to get to you,
a tunnel of looming days until
I see your face and drink my fill
of all you are and all you mean,
a tunnel of days that stand between
me and the joys that once were mine,
when you were here and life was fine.
I guess I always knew
he wasn’t mine to keep,
and yet I prayed he’d stick around
until I went to sleep.
The ocean pounding on the shore
Awakens with a crashing roar
Reminds me that you are no more
He left in his own
time, his chosen way.
I find in me
no spirit
to begrudge it.