34 Short African American Poems to Read at Funerals | Cake Blog (2024)

Below is a brief selection of African American poems honoring specific family members and friends. You’ll find several notable ethnic poets praised for their use of imagery or symbolism, from Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou to Robert Hayden and Anne Spencer.

Discover classic and modern ethnic poetry related to loss and grieving for a more insightful and powerful impact on listeners as it stems from a shared identity and history.

Jump ahead to these sections:

• African American Funeral Poems for a Mother or Grandmother
• African American Funeral Poems for a Father or Grandfather
• African American Funeral Poems for a Sibling
• African American Funeral Poems for a Spouse or Partner
• African American Funeral Poems for a Child
• African American Funeral Poems for a Friend

African American Funeral Poems for a Mother or Grandmother

See below for poems that celebrate African American mothers' and grandmothers' lives and roles.

1. "Sunset of the City" by Gwendolyn Brooks

Brooks' "Sunset of the City" is an extension or observation of the enveloping city and life’s passage or sunset.

It is a real chill out,
The genuine thing.
I am not deceived, I do not think it is still summer
Because sun stays and birds continue to sing.

It is summer-gone that I see, it is summer-gone.
The sweet flowers in drying and dying down,
The grasses forgetting their blaze and consenting to brown.

Read it for any beautiful woman who accepted the changes in aging.

2. "Go Down, Death" by James Weldon Johnson

Johnson's poem, "Go Down, Death," eulogizes the great matriarch. Her loss is so unbearable that it requires a revelatory, hopeful poem.

He writes, "Weep not, weep not,/ She is not dead;/ She's resting in the bosom of Jesus." This may alleviate pain or uncertainty so the listener can move from grief to acceptance.

3. "blessing the boats (at st. mary's)" by Lucille Clifton

Critics praise poet Lucille Clifton for writing about human experiences like death, gender, illness, and racism. The result is that she can speak to survivors and pragmatists alike.

In "blessing the boats," note how those left behind must reconcile the fate of the seafarer, wishing them well as they begin their journey.

4. "Lineage" by Margaret Walker

"Lineage" acknowledges the strength of enslaved women's ancestors who extraordinarily endured their suffering with what Walker notes as "clean words."

Choose the poem for that matriarch who endlessly bore their pain and other needless travails with poise and determination.

5. "Coal" by Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde's poem, "Coal," represents power, not just in being black, but coming directly from nature—the source of all-powerful things.

"Coal" works for any matriarch's funeral whose strength was defined not by the society around her but the knowledge within her.

6. "The Black Mother" by Marcus Mosiah Garvey

"The Black Mother" is an ideal poem for any mom who is patient, tender, healing, and supportive no matter the circ*mstance or event.

Sure of her virtue, Garvey writes, "This is love wonderful beyond compare;/ It is God's choicest gift to mortal man;/ You, who know Mother, in this thought must share,/ For, she, of all, is Angel of your Clan."

African American Funeral Poems for a Father or Grandfather

In the short selection below, look for African American funeral poems for dads and granddads.

7. "Funeral Night in Harlem" by Langston Hughes

"Funeral Night in Harlem" isn't about the poverty of the dead boy or that he couldn't afford to pay for his coffin or flowers. Hughes' poem is about a community that comes together to support each other.

8. "Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden

Hayden's poem is about fathers who’d do anything for their children with or without acknowledgment or gratitude.

In the case of "Those Winter Sundays," the child recalls a tired and worn father who continued to warm the home for his children.

9. "Nocturne of the Wharves" by Arna Bontemps

One might compare the waves and sea of "Nocturne of the Wharves" to that of society—and the battle for man’s survival. It's an easy comparison, indeed, but more impressive is the father or grandfather who perseveres through all of the hardships, continually and without end.

10. "The Treehouse" by James A. Emanuel

James A. Emanuel believed that living was reflective, conscious of what's been before and what follows. Leaving the US for France enabled his writing to expand to that level, especially in "The Treehouse."

You might choose it for a father who died young but was well aware of the weight of his ancestors.

11. "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou

"Still I Rise" is commonly hailed as one of the best poems about the oppression black people face from white people.

Choose it to represent a patriarch who ceaselessly provided his children better opportunities, defying social constructs.

12. "Poem for my Father" by Quincy Troupe

Troupe's apparent admiration for his father is shown throughout “Poem for my Father.” He writes,"

& you there, father, regal, as an african, obeah man / sculpted out of wood, from a sacred tree, of no name, no place, origin / thick branches branching down, into cherokee & someplace else lost / way back in Africa

Choose it because you, too, admired a great man whose contribution was rich, and memory now revered.

13. "For Jim, Easter Eve" by Anne Spencer

“For Jim, Easter Eve" works as a funeral poem, not just because of the cemetery references, but because it's typical of Spencer’s style to search for beauty even in unexpected places.

African American Funeral Poems for a Sibling

Langston Hughes influenced many poets below in this brief look at African American poems for siblings.

14. "To a Lady and Her Children, on the Death of her Son and their Brother" by Phyllis Wheatley

Note Wheatley's understanding of sorrow and what seems like a rush toward death to be with family on the other side:

"Still do you weep, still wish for his return? / How cruel thus to wish, and thus to mourn? / No more for him the streams of sorrow pour, / But haste to join him on the heav'nly shore, / On harps of gold to tune immortal lays, / And to your God immortal anthems raise."

15. "A Song for Soweto" by June Jordan

Jordan's poem "A Song for Soweto" challenges the harsh realities of society, cautioning against forgetting who you are and from where you came.

Choose it as a funeral poem for anyone who won that battle, remaining true to themselves and their family.

16. "A Woman Speaks" by Audre Lorde

Worth, power, and vulnerability are the three main themes in "A Woman Speaks," making this poem ideal for a female sibling who also struggled to claim an identity while balancing strength with vulnerability.

17. “Poem No. 4” by Ijeoma Umebinyuo

Ijeoma Umebinyuo's short "Poem No. 4" connects all black women with shared experiences on a path inspired by feminism due to race and gender.

Read it for any sibling who understood and endured alongside you, blood or not, encouraging your path forward.

18. "I Am a Black Woman" by Mari Evans

Evans’ excerpt from "I Am a Black Woman" offers symbolism and allusions similar to Langston Hughes's. Choose it for someone far more remarkable than most realize.

I am a black woman
tall as a cypress
strong
beyond all definition still
defying place
and time
and circ*mstance
assailed
impervious
indestructible
Look
on me and be
renewed

African American Funeral Poems for a Spouse or Partner

Look below for poems iterating how we connect with lifelong partners and spouses.

19. "The Loss of Love" by Countee Cullen

The unbearable pain of loss is palpable in the following short excerpt in Countee Cullen’s “The Loss of Love,” as he writes:

I have no will to weep or sing,
No least desire to pray or curse;
The loss of love is a terrible thing;
They lie who say that death is worse.

20. "In and Out of Time" by Maya Angelou

Partners often experience adversity but come through the other side together. A love like that is not separated by death; it is instead celebrated by time. Here’s a short excerpt:

The sun has come.
The mist has gone.
We see in the distance...
our long way home.
I was always yours to have.
You were always mine.
We have loved each other in and out of time.

21. "Love Is" by Nikki Giovanni

“Love Is” speaks to the truth of relationships where most dive into marriage thinking of all the beautiful parts without realizing all of the work and tread that goes into maintenance.

Few recognize that love is
commitment, responsibility
no fun at all
unless
Love is
You and me

But now and again, that enviable relationship makes it seem effortless, as if it’s pure joy.

22. "A Memory of June" by Claude McKay

Claude McKay’s “A Memory of June” is very romantic but not so out of line that it can’t be part of a funeral or memorial. Choose just a few lines that capture your heart’s mind as you recollect your first evening as man and wife.

23. "After the Winter" by Claude McKay

“After the Winter” represents what two great loves imagine their lives will be when they’ve come to an end. There’s no search for heaven, per se; instead, a quiet, serene life. Somewhere over there and in a cottage where life is beautifully endless.

24. "For a lady I know" by Amiri Baraka

Baraka’s poem “For a lady I know” is about absolute admiration for another human being. Use any interpretation of the perspective because what is critical is the absoluteness of love rather than is more the theme than the narrator or voice.

as I have pronounced the life
in our fingers, real, so you must be
and grow to love me, as I must, of
course, finally. fall on my knees
with love for you

African American Funeral Poems for a Child

Some of the poems below are age-specific, from babies to young children.

25. "On the Death of a Young Lady of Five Years of Age" by Phyllis Wheatley

What’s remarkable about Wheatley’s poem is the knowledge that goes into its verse, as she was intimately aware of losing a child. Here’s a short excerpt:

She feels the iron hand of pain no more;
The dispensations of unerring grace,
Should turn your sorrows into grateful praise;
Let then no tears for her henceforward flow…

26. "Rain-Songs" by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Dunbar’s imagery makes it work for a child’s funeral because it invokes that of heaven, tears, and angels. See below.

The rain streams down like harp-strings from the sky;
The wind, that world-old harpist sitteth by;
And ever as he sings his low refrain,
He plays upon the harp-strings of the rain.

27. "The Sparrow" by Paul Laurence Dunbar

“The Sparrow” is about paying attention, giving heed to that which is fleeting. It’s a reminder to love deeply now so as not to miss out on it later.

A little bird, with plumage brown,
Beside my window flutters down,
A moment chirps its little strain,
Ten taps upon my window-pane,
And chirps again, and hops along,
To call my notice to its song…

28. "Nightmare Begins Responsibility" by Michael S. Harper

Harper’s poem is specific to the loss of a newborn child and even more specifically from the perspective of a black man in a white medical community. He feels there is inequality in medical care, leading him to an infinite distrust in the system.

29. "Hushed by the Hands of Sleep" by Angelia Weld Grimké

Whether the echo of hushed as it’s repeated throughout the poem or the imagery of falling asleep effortlessly and without pain, the result of Grimké’s poetry is a knowable sense of loss.

African American Funeral Poems for a Friend

The poems below speak of friendship’s beauty, from an admiration of one’s confidence to how their absence redefines life.

30. "Phenomenal Women" by Maya Angelou

Angelou’s “Phenomenal Women” is an homage to women who are beautiful regardless of society’s conventional or narrow perception of beauty. They know they’re beautiful —confidently so.

31. "The Rose That Grew From Concrete" by Tupac Shakur

In Shakur’s poem, the rose is something with which we can all identify. His poem is an opportunity to remind others that greatness is subjective, as is the struggle.

Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it
learned to walk with out having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.

32. "To a Dead Friend" by Langston Hughes

In “To a Dead Friend,” life continues to rise, set, or sing. That is everything except happiness. Now that death has taken it away from him.

33. "At Times Like This" by Nikki Giovanni

Giovanni’s poem is pragmatic or realistic at the very least in that it describes how others react to death and manage their grief.

34. "I Hear the Stars Still Singing" by James Weldon Johnson

Similar to the previous poem, the reader discovers that there’s still much going on. Except the one thing missing is the friend’s voice, now ever-silent.

More Famous Poems by African American Poets

African American poetry is born from a shared history and experience. Though the poems speak to a common theme, many references and emotions are intrinsic to African American culture, making them great healers in times of such sorrow.

For more funeral poems from famous African American poets like Maya Angelou, or if you need help or any information on how to write a eulogy, click on Join Cake today.

Sources:

1. Angelou, Maya. “Phenomenal Woman” fromAnd Still I Rise.Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou.
2. Bontemps, A. “Nocturne of the Wharves.” Best Poems. 2 May 2015. Best-poems.net.
3. Chang, R. “8 of Audre Lorde's most memorable poems.” Biography.com, 11 February 2022. Biography.com.
4. Literary Ladies Guide. “11 poems by Margaret Walker.” Literary Ladies Guide, 7 January 2021. Literaryladiesguide.com.
5. Poetry Foundation. Poetryfoundation.org