Beloved on the Earth (150 Poems of Grief and Gratitude)

“A lovely book… This is a collection of poems that help give meaning to our grief and remind us that we are not alone.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“This anthology is sure to find its way to bookshelves in churches and funeral homes. It's a perfect collection from which to pick a reading for a loved one's memorial service.”—St Paul Pioneer Press

“An anthology filled with healing and hope.”—Rabbi Lawrence Kushner

“Beloved on the Earth is a timeless anthology, a meditation on ‘our capacity for wonder and for grief.’…The book itself…is the best book of poems I have reviewed so far this year.”—Vince Corvaia

This engaging anthology of 150 poems brings together a range of responses to the experiences of death, mourning, and gratitude for lost loved ones, composed by a variety of poets, both emerging and well-known. These poems can provide insight, solace, and understanding.

“Late Fragment” by Raymond Carver

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

Jim Perlman is founding editor and publisher of Holy Cow! Press. He has edited two previous anthologies: Brother Songs: A Male Anthology of Poetry (1979) and, with Ed Folsom and Dan Campion, Walt Whitman: The Measure of His Song (1981; revised edition, 1998).

Deborah Cooper is the author of four poetry chapbooks, most recently Between the Ceiling & the Moon from Finishing Line Press. She has used poetry extensively in her work as a hospice chaplain and conducts writing classes for individuals grieving the loss of loved ones.

Mara Hart writes memoir in prose and poetry. She has been an editor of several literary periodicals. Her book, Lovecraft’s New York Circle, was published in 2007 by Hippocampus Press (New York City).

Pamela Mittlefehldt is a poet and a mystery writer. She is working on a collection of essays about the meaning of place, and she is exploring the power of story to transform our lives as individuals and as a community.