Poems or readings for my baby’s funeral

[Lightningscar]

I’m looking for non-religious poems or readings that would be nice to read out at my son’s funeral.
He was a day short of 11 weeks old when he died of a rare cancer.
If anyone knows of any that are nice and don’t focus too much on the awfulness of the situation it would be great if you could share - google hasn’t come up with much :(

I just wanted to pass on my sincerest sympathies to you. I have a 7 week old son and heart is breaking for you. I hope someone will be along soon with a beautiful suggestion for you. Your son is in my thoughts, Lightningscar

Oh, Lightningscar, I am so sorry.

May I ask, what sort of things do you respond to? I mean, do you lean towards reading Terry Pratchett or towards Emily Dickenson? Or maybe what kind of music do you listen to? If we have an idea of that, it'll be a little easier to suggest readings that might work better for you.

I'm sure you'll get some fitting suggestions on here.

I'm so sorry for your loss

I’m so very sorry you lost your son, especially so young.

Late Fragment by Raymond Carver can work well for a non- religious funeral:-

“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'm so sorry, nobody should ever have to plan their child's funeral. I've been there twice so absolutely understand and you can PM me to chat any time.

Have a look at some Winnie the pooh books, there are some very fitting quotes in there that you could use as a reading. You could also have a think about meaningful song lyrics too.

Once again, I'm so sorry

I'm so sorry.
Had you thought of reading from a children's book? Perhaps Guess how much I love you? It would be very emotional in this context. But there's not much getting away from that.

I have taken baby funerals in the past. At one I asked the organist to play the Brahms lullaby. It seemed fitting. At another everyone present lit a candle as a symbol of their love and support for the parents.

There s a quote from Winnie the pooh - sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in our hearts. That might be a starting point for thinking about the impact your baby has had, even in a very short time.

Finally perhaps have a look at Psalm 139. It stresses how precious and unique even the tiniest person is.

I am so sorry for your loss.

So very sorry for your loss, I can't imagine what you're going through. I had a look at a past thread and found this one. I thought it would be quite fitting for the time of year and doesn't seem religious.

Little Snowdrop

The world may never notice
If a Snowdrop doesn't bloom,
Or even pause to wonder
If the petals fall too soon.
But every life that ever forms,
Or ever comes to be,
Touches the world in some small way
For all eternity.

The little one we long for
Was swiftly here and gone.
But the love that was then planted
Is a light that still shines on.
And though our arms are empty,
Our hearts know what to do.
Every beating of our hearts
Says that we love you.

A relative read out Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye at my baby daughter's funeral. We had a very short graveside service.

I found it a comfort. My sincere condolences for your loss. Wishing you strength .

Also, there's a book called 'Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You' by Nancy Tillman. There are some lovely parts of the book that could be adapted to form a reading.