How to Write a Poetic Eulogy That Sounds Like Your Voice

In the stillness after loss, words can feel like strangers.
You sit with memories crowding your chest,
and somehow you’re expected to make them speak.
To rise.
To become a eulogy.

Most guides will show you how to write “a beautiful tribute.”
But few teach you how to write it in your voice—
not in the tone of a template,
not with stiff church-formality,
not stolen from someone else’s grief.

This is different.
This is sacred.
This is personal.

Step 1: Begin Where the Emotion Is Loudest

Forget the facts for a moment.
Don’t start with birthdates or achievements.
Start with the moment that aches.
Was it the laugh that filled a room?
The silence after their voice disappeared?

Open a note on your phone. Or a napkin.
And write the moment you miss most.
That’s your true first line.
Later, it can be shaped. But first—it must be real.

“I still hear the way you said my name when no one else was listening.”

That’s poetry.
And it’s yours.

Step 2: Speak Like You Speak (Then Polish the Edges)

Don’t chase “Shakespearean.”
Chase authenticity.
If you would never say, “He was the light of our lives,”
then don’t write it. Say it how you would say it:

“He showed up when my world went dark. Every time.”

That’s poetry, too.
Poetry is not about fancy words. It’s about truth, shaped gently.

I take raw voice notes from clients—stammering, grieving, halting—and I don’t “rewrite” them.
I refine them.
I keep the voice. I just make it sing.

Step 3: Use Poetic Devices the Right Way

You don’t need to know literary terms.
You just need to feel rhythm.

Try:

• Echo repetition:
  “You always knew. You always stayed. You always loved.”

• Concrete imagery:
  “Her coffee smelled like burnt toast and vanilla. I still check for it in the air.”

• Asymmetry:
  Let one line break the flow to draw attention. Like a heartbeat skipping.

Step 4: Let Silence Do Some of the Speaking

Don’t be afraid of short lines.
Don’t be afraid of pauses.
Grief breathes through the spaces we leave open.

“I looked for your shoes at the door.
I knew they wouldn’t be there.
But I looked.”

Step 5: Honor, Don’t Perform

The best eulogies are not performances.
They’re offerings.

Don’t try to impress the room.
Try to touch the spirit of the one who’s gone.

If they were funny—laugh.
If they were chaotic—show the mess.
If they were quiet—speak softly.

Let your eulogy feel like them.
But let it sound like you.

Want Help? That’s Where I Come In.

If you feel too overwhelmed to write...
If your throat closes every time you try to speak...
If you’re afraid you’ll dishonor them by saying the wrong thing...

I’m here.

I write poetic eulogies that sound like your voice.
Whether it’s a single paragraph or a full memorial,
you speak—I shape.
You cry—I translate.

You remember. I help you remember beautifully.

Based in Los Angeles, serving clients worldwide. Visit: www.mementomorimemorials.com
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