I write the poem based on your notes, our conversation, and two sets of your revisions. You have the option to publish the poem on this website for free, as a public or private post. ($795)
- To help you put memories and feelings into words, I email you a list of Questions for Reflection, encouraging you to reply with specific details. Family members and friends can join you in completing the questionnaire.
- Alternatively, you and I schedule a recorded 45-minute phone conversation for the same purpose.
- In the days that follow our conversation or my receipt of your completed questionnaire, I draw on what you’ve given me and draft the poem. During that time, I might ask you for more detail — how he walked when he was proud, for example, or how her voice sounded when she laughed.
- I email this first draft to you. Following your review, you email or call me with your revisions, additions, deletions.
- I incorporate your changes and email the second draft to you.
- You review this second draft. You email or call me with your additional revisions, additions, deletions.
- I incorporate these final changes and email the poem in its final form to you as a pdf file (Portable Document Format) and as a docx file (Microsoft Word).
The poem will be in free verse, meaning the words at the ends of lines do not rhyme. End rhymes convey an easy end, a tidy conclusion, which does not match most people’s experience of loss. Often we feel there’s no rhyme or reason to the loss of a loved one.
The poem will make its impact, and offer empathy, through patterns of sound and rhythm, comparisons, imagery, and other poetic elements. The poems posted here provide examples of free verse.
Other Services
On Your Own:
You write the poem yourself, using my free seven-page Writing Guide. (no charge)
One-to-One:
You write the poem using my free Writing Guide and revise it with my coaching. ($35/half hour)
Four-by-Four:
You enlist three others and enroll in a series of four one-hour online classes. Using my free Writing Guide as a foundation, I coach each person in writing and revising their poem in a setting of mutual support. ($100/person)
Optional Extras (at additional charge)
You can also choose to receive —
- an audio recording of the poem as I voice it
- a digital image of the poem, on a background and with a photo you select, to upload to your phone
- assistance with arranging for printing and framing the poem
For details on the process we’ll use, see What You and I Do and Frequently Asked Questions.