Dear Veeky Forums a very close friend of mine passed away recently and I need to find words/poetry about grief and loss...

Dear Veeky Forums a very close friend of mine passed away recently and I need to find words/poetry about grief and loss for the service. Thanks

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We're going to need to know a little about your friend. Personality, lifestyle, achievements, relationships.

Then we shall craft something that is loving but tasteful. I'm happy to help.

Cat in an Empty Apartment
Wisława Szymborska, translated from the Polish by Stanisław Barańczak and Clare Cavanagh OCTOBER 21, 1993 ISSUE
Die—you can’t do that to a cat.
Since what can a cat do
in an empty apartment?
Climb the walls?
Rub up against the furniture?
Nothing seems different here
but nothing is the same.
Nothing’s been moved
but there’s more space.
And at nighttime no lamps are lit.

Footsteps on the staircase,
but they’re new ones.
The hand that puts fish on the saucer
has changed, too.

Something doesn’t start
at its usual time.
Something doesn’t happen
as it should.
Someone was always, always here,
then suddenly disappeared
and stubbornly stays disappeared.

Every closet’s been examined.
Every shelf has been explored.
Excavations under the carpet turned up nothing.
A commandment was even broken:
papers scattered everywhere.
What remains to be done.
Just sleep and wait.

Just wait till he turns up,
just let him show his face.
Will he ever get a lesson
on what not to do to a cat.
Sidle toward him
as if unwilling
and ever so slow
on visibly offended paws,
and no leaps or squeals at least to start.

Thanks user
Personality wise he was about the funniest person I have ever known. Ripped the shit out of people constantly but you couldn't help but love him for it even when it was directed at you. Despite this He really cared for everyone and took on your problems like they were his own.
He loved partying and socializing, he was a graffiti artist who ran his own record label and put on parties all the time so he pretty much knew everyone in London. Most of the people I know only met their friends through him. In terms of achievements well he is one of the most known graffiti artists in the city and his label was very successful.

And how did he die? Crime, accident, long-term health issues, suicide...

youtu.be/alDgzU46CY0

Chuang Tzu's wife died. When Hui Tzu went to convey his condolences, he found Chuang Tzu sitting with his legs sprawled out, pounding on a tub and singing. "You lived with her, she brought up your children and grew old," said Hui Tzu. "It should be enough simply not to weep at her death. But pounding on a tub and singing - this is going too far, isn't it?"

Chuang Tzu said, "You're wrong. When she first died, do you think I didn't grieve like anyone else? But I looked back to her beginning and the time before she was born. Not only the time before she was born, but the time before she had a body. Not only the time before she had a body, but the time before she had a spirit. In the midst of the jumble of wonder and mystery a change took place and she had a spirit. Another change and she had a body. Another change and she was born. Now there's been another change and she's dead. It's just like the progression of the four seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter.

"Now she's going to lie down peacefully in a vast room. If I were to follow after her bawling and sobbing, it would show that I don't understand anything about fate. So I stopped."

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone, and the sea is now no more. And I John saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people; and God himself with them shall be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat on the throne, said: Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me: Write, for these words are most faithful and true.

And he said to me: It is done. I am Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end. To him that thirsteth, I will give of the fountain of the water of life, freely. He that shall overcome shall possess these things, and I will be his God; and he shall be my son.

He took too much various drugs on Christmas and never woke up the next day. They assume he suffocated in his sleep. It was a problem he was struggling with for the past 10 years but he lived so fast that it never really caught up with him until now

And to be clear, you're not delivering a eulogy, but just a short poem/prayer/tribute/blessing kind of thing?

Satires of Circumstance

This truth came borne with bier and pall,
I felt it, when I sorrow'd most,
'Tis better to have loved and lost,
Than never to have loved at all—

Yeah I don't want to take up a lot of time I just want to recite something I think is fitting. Whether it's a poem or a passage or just find some inspiration for something to write myself. The funeral is in 2 weeks and there will be many people speaking so I don't want to be too lengthy

Okay, sounds good. Give me a few minutes.

Thank you kind sir

I found some inspiration for your funeral speech.

I see what you did there. I guess I should get started.

I meant that you don't need to write beautiful poetic words. All you need to say is what you actually think/feel. That will necessarily make a deeper impression than the most godly poetry or prose.

Catullus 101, or "Ave atque vale" (Hail, and farewell) is about Catullus grieving for his brother and saying his final farewells to his ashes.

Tennyson's In Memoriam:
>The original title of the poem was "The Way of the Soul", and this might give an idea of how the poem is an account of all Tennyson's thoughts and emotions as he grieves over the death of a close friend. He views the cruelty of nature and mortality in light of materialist science and faith. Owing to its length and its arguable breadth of focus, the poem might not be thought an elegy or a dirge in the strictest formal sense.

But be warned that Tennyson can be a bit difficult, so if you're looking for pure comfort it might be demanding too much of your nerves to strain them like that.

When I first met [name], I knew he was of another world. His enthusiasm was unmatched; his manic pursuit of everything creative. I’ve never known a funnier person. But you couldn’t let your guard down – he teased everyone he loved and loved everyone he teased. He had more energy, more creativity, and more love than I’d ever seen in one person. He was the light in every room. But the light that shines the brightest must, to, burn out the fastest.
Now that he’s gone, it’s easy to think the world is emptier. But all that he left behind – in music, art, hundreds of friends, and hours of laughter – thinking about it will always make me smile. I miss [name] with all my heart and am grateful to get to share my words with you today.

[end with lyrics from a musician he liked]

Thanks user I appreciate it.

And round and round it goes.

I’m in grief counseling now b/c of a death and recommend it
everything pales next to the death of someone you were one soul with
wish you the best

Roast him. It sounds like he would appreciate it. I don't know him but I get the impression he was a lover of life and wouldn't want people sobbing at his funeral
Check out the movie A Futile and Useless Gesture for these feels.

It's on Netflix