Poem for Grandmother's funeral

[sleepfortheweek]

My grandmother sadly passed away last week. We were very close and I really want to recite a poem at the service.

I'm struggling to find anything fitting. I did contemplate writing my own to make it more personal but I'm no poet!

I would prefer something Scottish but it's not a deal breaker if not.

Nothing too long as I think I'll struggle

The only one I have jotted down is 'Do not stand at my Grave and weep' which is a pretty well known one.

Thanks

The life that I have up is yours - Leo Marks.
Beautiful, short, poignant.
💐Sorry for your loss OP

• sorry The Life that I have is yours - no up.

Sorry you said Scottish : Epitaph for my own Friend by Robert Burns.
It’s written as he, but you could say she if you wished to personalise,

Have a look at

A wife, a mother and a grandma too

Pinterest is good for suggestions.
We had this one at my Grandad's funeral.

I am sorry for your loss op, my dear nan passed away 4 weeks ago and we have only just had her funeral.

We were very close and it is so hard, I just came on to promise you it will get better.

Pinterest helped when I was choosing the poetry for her, I found I could just pin a couple without getting too upset and go back as and when I felt strong.
🌻🌷🌹

Thank you, I hadn't thought on Pinterest

www.thefuneralpoem.com/10/famous-poets-poems/bishop-brent/23/the-ship-death-poetry-verses?paid=12

This was read at my friend’s funeral and it was very comforting

Would this be suitable? It's by Mary Oliver

In Blackwater Woods

To live in this world

you must be able

to do three things:

to love what is mortal;

to hold it

against your bones knowing

your own life depends on it;

and, when the time comes to let it go,

to let it go.

Or perhaps this by Raymond Carver
Late Fragment
And did you get what
you wanted from this life ,even so ?
I did
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved,to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
I am very sorry for your sad loss

Not specifically Scottish, but I like this

Death is Nothing at All

Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other
That we still are

Call me by my old familiar name
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used
Put no difference into your tone
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow

Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we always enjoyed together
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was
Let it be spoken without effect
Without the ghost of a shadow on it

Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolutely unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you at an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner

All is well.

Henry Scott Holland 1847-1918
Canon of St Pauls Cathedral

I'm sorry for your loss.
I wrote & read something for my grandmother at her funeral. It wasn't a poem, but I wrote about happy memories & the things she did with her grandchildren. It seemed fitting.

I'm sure whatever you pick will be right for her.

Thank you everyone

@TheOrchidKiller I would love to be able to write something in my own words. I've got loads of things jotted down, many memories, but I can't make it sound nice or make sense

If it's religious. God's Garden is lovely.

@PurBal sorry I should have said, not religious

Remember Me

© Anthony Dowson More By Anthony Dowson

Published: January 2016

Speak of me as you have always done.
Remember the good times, laughter, and fun.

Share the happy memories we've made.
Do not let them wither or fade.

I'll be with you in the summer's sun
And when the winter's chill has come.

I'll be the voice that whispers in the breeze.
I'm peaceful now, put your mind at ease.

I've rested my eyes and gone to sleep,
But memories we've shared are yours to keep.

Sometimes our final days may be a test,
But remember me when I was at my best.

Although things may not be the same,
Don't be afraid to use my name.

Let your sorrow last for just a while.
Comfort each other and try to smile.

I've lived a life filled with joy and fun.
Live on now, make me proud of what you'll become.

Read this at a relative's funeral.
Sorry for your loss OP

Even if you are no poet perhaps write about your own feelings for your gran. Somehow I feel that says more than the standard poems so often read at funerals. Think what your gran would want. I imagine she would want to hear about and why you loved her so much.

I read at my friends funeral - a poem which suited her.

It was called
There is no guilt in laughter.

Not sure how to paste it on here but it’s goggle-able.

Whatever you choose will be right x

We had this at my sister’s funeral

www.funeralguide.co.uk/help-resources/arranging-a-funeral/planning-the-service/funeral-poems/she-is-gone-he-is-gone

Sorry for your loss . I’m sure you’ll find the right words to say
I read this one at my grandma’s funeral

She Is Gone

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 will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
Or you can be full of the love that 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 and 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 would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

I read "the dash" at my own grandparents funeral.

So sorry for your loss OP. Jackie Kay is a contemporary Scottish poet and has written some beautiful poems. She wrote Darling for her friend Julie Darling when she died and it's very poignant. If you Google or go through her Twitter stream you can find films of her reading her work.

I read 'She is Gone' at my grandmother's funeral, and I see a couple of others have suggested it too.

Departure and departure and …..
by George Bruce

Someone is waving a white handkerchief
from the train as it pulls out with a white
plume from the station and rumbles its way
to somewhere that does not matter. But
it will pass the white sands and the broad sea
that I have watched under the sun and moon
in the stop of time in my childhood as I am
now there again and waiting for the white
handkerchief. I shall not see her again
but the waters rise and fall and the horizon
is firm. You who have not seen that line
hold the brimming sea to the round earth
cannot know this pain and sweetness of departure.