Love - This poignant collection of beautiful words is about all kinds of love, parental, sibling, as a child, as a partner, as a friend. Its about boundaries, its about acceptance, its about absence of love. It touched me in the way only poetry can. There was only one poem I felt negativity towards and it was DEATH IS A THIEF I really strongly disliked the reference to death being like a 'cancer' personally I would substitute 'cancer' with 'monster'

WORDS TO LIVE BY – Donna Ashworth WORDS TO LIVE BY – Donna Ashworth

Short funeral verse written by Joyce Grenfell with a message about finding ways to cope with grief carry on after losing a loved one. It’s been so very positive. I’m no longer alone in every decision and have some fabulous people to sound things out with. The quality of the print-work and the skills of all the team make my work so much better too. It’s been a wonderful ride so far and I am looking forward to the future.

Life

Popular funeral poem based on a short verse by David Harkins. An uplifting poem about being grateful for a loved one’s life. THE LOSS OF A MOTHER is a really good one and I took a deep breath expecting to really tear up as my own mum died quite recently but it was THE LOSS OF A FATHER that made me the most emotional, the one that had me nodding in agreement with its words and sentiment, especially with the part where your father has already planted the answers you seek etc Today I’m reviewing a poetry collection by Donna Ashworth. Three books Love, Life and Loss. I’ve been dipping in and out of these for the last week and I have to say I’ve loved them all. Love is full of words to remind us of the love in our lives, where it can be found, that it is powerful and so so important. Life covers just that, beginnings, endings, age, all sorts really and it’s been wonderful to sit at the end of the day and read one of these, they bring a sense of peace on the hamster wheel that is Life. Loss was a harder read for me and I have not yet read all of this collection. There are poems for loss in all its forms, I have particularly found solace in ‘There will always be loss’, simple words that speak loud and at the right time are always good. HAILING from Tillicoultry, Donna Ashworth rose to fame on social media, with her poetry winning a legion of celebrity fans, including Cat Deeley, Lisa Faulkner, and Lisa Snowden.

A poem by Donna Ashworth – The Good Grief Trust A poem by Donna Ashworth – The Good Grief Trust

Love is an energy, so powerful, so all-consuming that when the person you felt all that love for is not here, you are a vessel filled with a boundless source of power that has nowhere to go. Remember, grief is the price you pay for a love divine. The stronger the love, the deeper the grief but love, love will always win in the end. A short but uplifting funeral poem by famous Victorian poet Christina Rossetti, about saying goodbye to a loved one.

GREAT GRIEF is another that I definitely agree with the sentiment & words of 'that great grief is born only of great love' A sentiment recently mentioned in connection to the death of Queen Elizabeth that echoed her words of 'Grief is the price you pay for love' which she said after the death of her own husband. If you are organising a funeral service some of these are ideal to be read at those. As I said earlier in my review my mum recently died and we chose a poem my daughter remembered from school called Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden. There were many in this book that I could and would have had. I have read this book, along with 2 others Life and Love as a poetry collection and have reviewed them together so this review will appear duplicated for the other 2 books Funnily enough, I now live on a street named “Bards Way” after the wonderful Rabbie Burns. He apparently spent time there as a lad, wrote a couple of poems and fell in love. I don’t remember reading much poetry as a youngster though, despite loving to write my own. I have come across many poets in later life who have a beautiful way with words. Rupi Kaur is insanely talented at saying so much in such a short space and Amanda Gorman is a true powerhouse. I am moved every day by words and the power they have. I think we all are.

by Donna Ashworth, a beautiful poem of hope One Day by Donna Ashworth, a beautiful poem of hope

A short funeral poem by Helen Lowrie Marshall about happy memories living on after a loved one has gone.

Coping with losing a child

This poem by Rabindranath Tagore is a reflection on the narrator’s contentment with his life and gratitude to his or her friends for their companionship and support. The poem ends with a hope that they will live on after death in the memory of these friends.