Dads Memorial- need poem

[User198724]

We have had a tough few months, we lost my mum at Xmas and my dad in March. Because of Covid restrictions we are just organising a memorial now.

I would like to be able to read a poem to honour my dad, I’m not overly religious and I find most poems have an aspect of god/heaven, I’m also not creative enough to put my feelings into words.

I’m hoping someone out there will have something for me. Thank you in advance!!

Do you want a mourning type or a celebrate life type?
I wish I'd said this, but there's no hope in it - fromtroublesofthisworld.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/kender-mourning-song-by-michael-williams/

I am so sorry for your loss. The link below has lots of poems that are non-religious x
naturalendings.co.uk/resources/funeral-poetry/

And sorry for your loss, I hope you find peace.

I had Death is Nothing at all by Henry Scott Holland at my Dad's service, the slightly shorter version below. While he was a Canon & it was originally part of a service I don't find it particularly religious. I first read it when I was quite young, long before I'd experienced a bereavement, but it always resonated with me.

Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.

Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.

Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of 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 that we 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 an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.

I'm very sorry for your loss

I’m so sorry for your loss. My Dad died at the end of March. Very strange to be mourning in isolation - feels rather Victorian. Just hard. Only 4 of us at the funeral etc etc.
My sister read ‘Remember Me’ by Margaret Mead.
I hope that all goes well and I’m sure you’ll do your Dad proud.

Remember Me

To the living, I am gone,
To the sorrowful, I will never return,
To the angry, I was cheated,
But to the happy, I am at peace,
And to the faithful, I have never left.

I cannot speak, but I can listen.
I cannot be seen, but I can be heard.
So as you stand upon a shore gazing at a beautiful sea,
As you look upon a flower and admire its simplicity,
Remember me.

Remember me in your heart:
Your thoughts, and your memories,
Of the times we loved,
The times we cried,
The times we fought,
The times we laughed.
For if you always think of me, I will never have gone.

We had the David Harkins poem She is gone (He is gone) at DDs funeral. She Is Gone (interchangeable with He 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.

Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye

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 sunlight 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.