If someone told me, I’d be writing poetry
In the dark years after my loss—
During the time the best friend of mine
Took to join his Lord up above.
Disbelief and the shock, the grief, and the sorrow
To pass through the bargain with God—
To bring back my friend—no loss in the end
Could ignore what I knew in my heart.
It was for sure that he could not return
For our walks on the beach and our travel.
Our Moon River of living so long with the best
Our Bermuda, Hong Kong, and Mount Everest.
We loved our boys and their games, and their friends
And their toys, and their music and noise.
The four of us were Huckleberry friends who
Savored great moments with joy.
Kübler-Ross knew and wrote and told in her book
Of the process of life that we live.
But to be without him—I had nothing to give
Of that life I was left here to live.
Yet the Lord had a plan to put it all right—
To soften that miserable blow.
He brought in another with an aura of gold—
A model of faith to behold.
He helped me talk through the feelings I had.
He listened and listened some more.
As I talked—with his gifts—
It was simply as if, I was speaking to God—yet once more.
I explained that my heart was so broken and torn
And my spirit was ragged and worn.
The aura of gold, like Carl Rogers of old
Heard and helped me to sort it all out.
This model of grace lives his love through his faith—
With words that allow me to cope—
To be heard through the gloom
And the fog and the doom
That has lifted beyond any hope.
Ross says in the end
We must accept all and mend.
But she doesn’t advise on a plan.
Some question her words and think them prescriptive
Of the process we all must endure.
Dylan Thomas would say to those going away—
And those who are left behind,
Do not go gently into that good night
And fight with the time of your life.
The theories are plenty, the experts are many
It’s hard to know what to do.
But the model of grace comes in their place
In a way that transcends all the rest
Of the helpers and teachers and courses to learn
To face the abyss of death.
To use Ross or Thomas—or anyone else
Is really not his concern.
His goal is to help you learn how to be
Despite the powerful grief.
To live each day in a hopeful way
And to see all there is with belief.
This poem came to the Center from its author, who asked to remain anonymous. It is published as written, in the author’s revised version of September 7, 2026.