Poems for when you can’t find the words

A new collection of poetry especially for the bereaved and dying shares the universal and timeless emotions of grief, love and loss

Finding the right words to comfort family or friends in the face of death is bewildering and daunting.

The irish Hospice Foundation, with the help of Poetry ireland, has looked to poets past and present to find empathy and comfort. Their new book, Poems For When You Can’t Find The Words, is a collection of works chosen by former dean of Research and Humanities at St Patrick’s College in drumcondra, Mary Shine Thompson, which express the timeless and universal nature of loss and grief. Here are just some poems from the new collection which the hospice hopes will help the bereaved and dying find the consolation they need.

Poems For When You Can’t Find The Words, A Comforting Collection from the Irish Hospice Foundation and Poetry Ireland is edited by Mary Shine Thompson and published by Gill Books, ¤16.99

My Sister Is Not A Statistic is reprinted by kind permission of Dorothy Duffy . From Father And Daughter is reprinted by kind permission of Aifric Mac Aodha and Poetry Ireland