By Jena Kirkpatrick
In honor of National Poetry Month this April, Evermore invites you to express your memories in ink by writing and sharing a letter poem in honor of your loved one. Share it on your favorite social media using the hashtags #evermoreforall, #NationalPoetryMonth, and #MemoriesInInk, or keep it as a personal tribute.
Yet write, oh write me all, that I may join
Griefs to thy griefs, and echo sighs to thine.
A poem written in the form of a letter, also known as an “epistle” 🤓, expresses your thoughts, memories, and emotions as if you are speaking directly to someone who has died.
Select poems will be featured in our May community newsletter! Please email poems to hello@evermore.org.
Here are some ideas to help you craft a deeply personal and meaningful letter poem.
Begin with an Address
- Start your poem as a letter. An opening might be:
- To the one I miss the most,
Write About Yourself
- Share how you are feeling since their passing.
- Describe your joys and struggles, your hopes and fears.
Describe Your World
- Talk about what has changed in your surroundings since they’ve been gone.
- Mention favorite places you used to share.
Recall Shared Activities
- Mention activities you used to do together.
- Talk about how you spend your time now—what’s missing?
Remember the People in Your Life
- Share updates about mutual friends or family members.
- Express how others are grieving or remembering the person.
Reflect on the Past
- Share childhood or special memories.
- Recall significant moments with them.
Look to the Future
- Express what you hope for moving forward.
- Mention things you wish they could see.
End with a Closing
- Say goodbye—or don’t.
- You can close with longing, gratitude, or an open-ended sentiment.
- Share it on your favorite social media using the hashtags #evermoreforall, #NationalPoetryMonth, and #MemoriesInInk, or keep it as a personal tribute.
Example of Epistolary Poem
If you’re looking for an example of a beautiful epistolary poem, check out Letter to My Son, Over Three Years Since He’s Gone written by our Evermore Poet Laureate.
Letter to My Son, Over Three Years Since He’s Gone
By Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
You would be jealous, I think,
of how your sister is learning trig,
speaking Spanish, playing bridge.
You’d probably tease her, but really,
what you’d be thinking is, She is so cool.
And she is, sweetheart. She’s fun
and silly. Like you. Only like her.
We talk about you, of course.
Just this weekend, we remembered
how once you said if a 99-pound person
ate a one-pound burger, they
would be one percent burger.
I wonder what percent of your sister
is grief? And what percentage love?
Tonight a girl asked her if she had any siblings.
She said, yes, a brother. When the girl
asked her how old you were, she told her
the truth. That you were seventeen
when you died. What a terrible gift
to learn how to say the hardest things straight.
I can’t help but think if you are watching her,
you, too, must be in awe of who she’s becoming.
Oh, how we learn to grow from whatever soil
we’ve been given. I do not pretend to know
how this works. I only know she
is learning to transform ache into beauty,
nightmare into dream. I only know
I long for her to know love from you
the way a garden feels loved by sun, by rain.
Read more of Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s work in A Hundred Falling Veils.