I discovered the news today and this beautiful, now relevant published poem in a New Yorker tweet: @NewYorker A poem by Wendell Berry, who died yesterday at age 92. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/vVxSyn.
The Loved Ones
November 17, 2025
The loved ones we call the dead
depart from us and for a while
are absent. And then as if
called back by our love, they come
near us again. They enter our dreams.
We feel they have been near us
when we have not thought of them.
They are simply here, simply waiting
while we are distracted among
our obligations. At last
it comes to us: They live now
in the permanent world.
We are the absent ones.
Published in the print edition of the November 24, 2025, issue.
Wendell Berry, a writer and a farmer, has published many books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, including the novel “Marce Catlett: The Force of a Story.”
USA TODAY: The Courier Journal Updated Sept. 1, 2026: Wendell Berry, ‘Peace of Wild Things’ author and activist, dies at 92. The Kentucky-bred author died on Monday, Aug. 31, at his home in Port Royal.
Other poems by him: The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry | Wendell Berry’s stepping over stones in a stream shows us how he writes a poem and takes a stand | Wendell Berry’s “No going back” is about the generosity of the evolving self through time.
The Uncarved Blog 