5 Gripping Poems for Celebration of Life

Compared to a traditional funeral or memorial service, a celebration of life is a festive event with a positive atmosphere. One of the ways cremation services in Biddeford, ME, help families achieve this is by incorporating uplifting poems that celebrate life. 

If you’re planning a celebration of life for your loved one, here are examples you can use: 

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep – Mary Elizabeth 

“Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there; I do not sleep. 

I am a thousand winds that blow, 

I am the diamond glints on snow, 

I am the sun on ripened grain, 

I am the gentle autumn rain. 

When you awaken in the morning’s hush 

I am the swift uplifting rush 

Of quiet birds in circled flight. 

I am the soft stars that shine at night. 

Do not stand at my grave and cry, 

I am not there; I did not die.” 

She Is Gone – David Harkins 

“You can shed tears that she is gone, 

or you can smile because she has lived. 

You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back, 

or you can open your eyes and see all she’s left. 

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her, 

or you can be full of the love you shared. 

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, 

or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. 

You can remember her only that she is gone, 

or you can cherish her memory and let it live on. 

You can cry and close your mind, 

be empty and turn your back. 

Or you can do what she’d want: 

smile, open your eyes, love and go on.” 

My Journey’s Just Begun – Ellen Brenneman 

Don’t think of him as gone away 

his journey’s just begun, 

life holds so many facets 

this earth is only one. 

 Just think of him as resting 

from the sorrows and the tears 

in a place of warmth and comfort 

where there are no days and years. 

Think how he must be wishing 

that we could know today 

how nothing but our sadness 

can really pass away. 

And think of him as living 

in the hearts of those he touched… 

for nothing loved is ever lost 

and he was loved so much. 

A Song of Living – Amelia Josephine Burr 

Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die. 

I have sent up my gladness on wings, to be lost in the blue of the sky. 

I have run and leaped with the rain, I have taken the wind to my breast. 

My cheek like a drowsy child to the face of the earth I have pressed. 

Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die... 

Afterglow – Helen Lowrie Marshall 

I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one. 

I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done. 

I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways, 

Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days. 

I’d like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun; 

Of happy memories that I leave when life is done. 

These poems work for anyone; feel free to change pronouns where necessary. 

Hopefully, these poems inspire and help express your feelings for the deceased. Call us if you have additional questions about cremation services in Biddeford, ME. Our professional staff is available to answer them.