Tag Archives: death and dying

The Final Carriage Ride

By Robin Bates | Published: July 14, 2022

As my mother lies dying, Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for death” speaks to me.

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In the Face of Death, the Small Things

By Robin Bates | Published: July 12, 2022

If anticipation of a death in the near future, I turn to Roy’s “God of Small Things” for guidance.

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Life’s Grip Is as Strong as Death’s

By Robin Bates | Published: April 28, 2022

Remembering my son’s death 22 years ago, I share a Jane Hirschfield poem.

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Maybe Death Is as Soft as Feathers

By Robin Bates | Published: February 19, 2022

In her poem “White Owl Flies Into and Out of the Field,” Mary Oliver finds a reassuring image of death.

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Wanted: An Elegy to Mourn Covid Victims

By Robin Bates | Published: January 4, 2022

To mourn our 800,000+ covid dead, America needs a good poetic elegy.

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Let Love Clasp Grief Lest Both Be Drown’d

By Robin Bates | Published: January 2, 2022

When death strikes, poetry is there to sustain us.

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How Anti-Vaxxers Deny 800,000 Dead

By Robin Bates | Published: December 16, 2021

As the U.S. hits 800,000 Covid deaths, I rerun a past post on a Bishop poem dealing with resignation.

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Robert Bly, R.I.P.

By Robin Bates | Published: November 25, 2021

A calm Robert Bly poem about dying is a good way to commemorate the Minnesota poet, who died this past week.

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Covid Denial and Illusions of Mastery

By Robin Bates | Published: October 3, 2021

We passed 700,000 Covid deaths over the weekend, Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” explains how certain people have numbed themselves to the disaster.

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