Have you and a friend parted ways?
Maybe your friendship ended because of betrayal and hurt feelings.
Or perhaps one of you moved away, and the distance has taken a toll on your once-close connection.
Losing a friend is painful, no matter what the reason – especially a friend you’ve known and loved for years.
If you’re looking for a lost friend poem that speaks to your feelings and pain, look no further than our collection below.
You’ll find something that validates the sadness and loss you’re feeling.
15 Heartbreaking Poems About Losing a Friendship
Poetry is a universal language that allows us to define the meaning and power of our experiences. These poems about broken friendship will help you distill your thoughts and feelings so you can move forward in self-awareness.
A Poison Tree by William Blake
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I watered it in fears
Night & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Oh, Oh, You Will be Sorry for that Word by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Oh, oh, you will be sorry for that word!
Give back my book and take my kiss instead.
Was it my enemy or my friend I heard,
“What a big book for such a little head!”
Come, I will show you now my newest hat,
And you may watch me purse my mouth and prink!
Oh, I shall love you still, and all of that.
I never again shall tell you what I think.
I shall be sweet and crafty, soft and sly;
You will not catch me reading anymore:
I shall be called a wife to pattern by;
And someday when you knock and push the door,
Some sane day, not too bright and not too stormy,
I shall be gone and you may whistle for me.
We Never Let Go by Jocelyn Soriano
We do not really let go of love;
We hold on to it.
We hold on to what remains
After all the dross is put away.
And after all the pain has
Purified the heart,
We know that we need only part
With things that cannot last.
But we hold on to what is pure;
We cherish the truth we’ve found.
And what is beautiful shall always remain
Because we never really let go of love.
Recovery Is: by Juansen Dizon
Letting go of your current life
By accepting your pain
As you create a new atmosphere
For yourself where you’re less likely
To be triggered. Where you’re more likely
To fill your emptiness with things that are healthy
For you.
It Was When I Stopped Searching by Rupi Kaur
It was when I stopped searching
For home within others
And lifted the foundations
Of home with-in myself
I found there were no roots more intimate
That those between a mind and body
That has decided to be whole.
A Broken Friendship by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Alas! they had been friends in youth;
But whispering tongues can poison truth;
And constancy lives in realms above;
And life is thorny, and youth is vain;
And to be wroth with one we love,
Doth work like madness in the brain.
And thus it chanced, as I divine,
With Roland and Sir Leoline.
Each spake words of high disdain
And insult to his heart’s best brother:
They parted – ne’er to meet again!
But never either found another
To free the hollow heart from painting –
They stood aloof, the scars remaining,
Like cliffs which had been rent asunder;
A dreary sea now flows between; –
But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder
Shall wholly do away, I ween,
The marks of that which once hath been.
Goodbye, My Dearest Friend by Leilani Hermosa Petersen
The hardest part of any friendship
is when it is time to say goodbye,
and even though I wished I could make you stay,
I know I have to let you spread your wings and fly.
For life is a journey that needs to be traveled,
and I am certain you’ll make it through.
I just want you to know and never forget
that I will surely miss you.
So follow your heart and never give up,
as dreams and wishes do come true.
I know that someday we’ll meet again,
so never forget I will be praying for you.
Friendship Broken by John Russell McCarthy
Confused and driven in a place bright,
black, big these two daringly seemed
almost to understand; their awareness caught
at each other like whirling midges and clung;
their clinging governed somewhat the whirl, assured
the laughter, fogged the terror.
Suddenly a wrong
turn breaks the grasp; these two eddy
apart bewildered, rubbing bruised hands;
even they add anger to the confusion and the drive
endlessly impelling.
Soon the power, finishing
with these two awarenesses, will drop them as bird lime
for the chaste resolvement of worms.
Can a stone know?
In Blackwater Woods (Excerpt) by Mary Oliver
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
Don’t Surrender Your Loneliness by Hafiz
Don’t surrender your loneliness so quickly
let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
as few human or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
has made my eyes so soft
my voice so tender
my need of God
absolutely clear.
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Betrayal by Dan McDonald
An echo fades into the night,
an eerie mournful sound.
A shooting star disappears from sight,
and I crumble to the ground.
There is no life within this garden;
my sobs are the only sound.
I have poisoned the honeyed fountain
where your love could be found.
Dazed, I stare at the stars above,
my grieving howls fill the night!
Unintended betrayal of love
has hidden you from my sight.
I remember how it used to be
when we shared our fears and delights.
You are a treasured friend to me.
How can I make things right?
Feeling afraid, cold and lonely,
I long to tell you how I feel,
but you don’t want to hear me.
The pain for you is much too real.
Should I back away and build a wall
and block away how I feel?
Or, should I give you a call?
We both need some time to heal.
An echo fades into the night
as our friendship disappears.
How do I know what is right?
How can I ease my fears?
If I do call you again,
would the old wounds reappear?
I can’t stand to cause you pain.
Hurting you again is my worst fear!
Tug o’ War by Shel Silverstein
I will not play at tug o’ war.
I’d rather play at hug o’ war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.
Shake Hands, We Shall Never Be Friends by A.E. Housman
Shake hands, we shall never be friends, all’s over;
I only vex you the more I try.
All’s wrong that ever I’ve done or said,
And nought to help it in this dull head:
Shake hands, here’s luck, good-bye …
But if you come to a road where danger
Or guilt or anguish or shame’s to share,
Be good to the lad that loves you true
And the soul that was born to die for you,
And whistle and I’ll be there.
Dear Friend by Grinnell Wills
Dear friend, ’tis hard to say farewell,
And harder yet it is to tell,
In parting words, how strong the tie
We sever now in this good-bye.
We all shall miss thy gentle grace.
Thy willing hand and cheerful face;
No other friend thy place can fill.
Though absent we shall claim thee still;
God bless the work thou hast begun,
And guard thee in the years to come.
And when thy heart is weary, or alone.
Come back and rest in this thy home.
Feeling the Loss of Him by Raymond A. Foss
Standing, walking, coming through the line
greeting you, for a moment, sharing
but a snapshot, a burst, of what I was feeling,
so small compared to the enormity
the reality of your loss.
Feeling so small, standing in the line,
before I approached you.
Thinking of what his loss
means to me, to so many,
as written in the paper
Murmured in the court, on the phone
with out practitioners.
Reading so many stories,
so many telling words,
the lives he touched, changed
for the better, truly.
Of his help to me,
guidance and rebuttal,
chastised and cajoled
Feeling the loss of him
so acutely, still.
The Uses of Sorrow by Mary Oliver
Someone I loved once
gave me a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand that
this, too, was a gift.
Did you find a lost friend poem that speaks to you?
Remember that losing a friendship doesn’t always
mean your friendship was in vain. You have grown
because of the relationship and learned what you
need in a true friend.
