Christmas in Heaven Poems

Short Christmas in Heaven Poems

Four lines fit inside a Christmas card, on an ornament tag, beside a photo on the mantel or on the back of a memorial card.

One More Light

We hung the lights the way you liked,
a little crooked, warm and bright,
and left one candle burning low
for you, our Christmas light.

The Empty Chair

We set your place, we said your name,
we passed the plates around.
The chair was empty, but the room
was full of you, and found.

Your Ornament

We hang your ornament first this year,
right where the branches bend,
so you are part of Christmas still,
and with us to the end.

First Snow

The first snow fell on Christmas Eve,
the kind you used to love.
We stood outside and watched it come,
and thought of you above.

Every Carol

In every carol, every bell,
in every star tonight,
we feel you near us, though you're gone,
just past the Christmas light.

Poems for a First Christmas in Heaven

The first Christmas after a death is often the hardest day of the year. These poems say that out loud and still leave room for comfort.

Our First Christmas Without You

The tree is up, the stockings hung,
the cookies cooling on the tray.
We did it all the way you did,
but nothing feels the same today.

We kept the songs, we kept the lights,
we kept your recipe for bread.
We even laughed at half your jokes,
the ones you always told instead.

So this is how we'll spend the day:
we'll miss you, and we'll carry on,
and keep a little Christmas back
for you, until the day is gone.

Your First Christmas There

It's your first Christmas in heaven,
our first Christmas down here.
You're singing with the angels;
we're singing through our tears.

But songs go up, and love goes up,
and maybe, on this night,
the ones we've lost can hear us
by the window's candlelight.

Christmas From Heaven Poems

Some families like a poem in the voice of the person who died, as if they were writing home. It can be read before the meal, tucked into each Christmas card, or printed beside their photo.

Merry Christmas From Me

Don't cry too long this Christmas,
don't let the dinner burn.
Put on the music way too loud;
it's someone else's turn

to carve the meat and tell the jokes
and sneak the extra pie.
I'm watching from a better seat,
and I'll be laughing, by and by.

So hug each other twice for me,
and take the picture too.
I'm closer than you think tonight.
Merry Christmas. I love you.

A Letter Home

I'm home now, where the light is warm
and no one's ever cold.
I've seen the faces I had missed,
and none of them are old.

I know my stocking's empty now;
please hang it anyway.
Fill it with the stories
that you tell about me on the day.

Christmas in Heaven Poems for Mom and Dad

Christmas often belongs to a parent: the person who cooked, wrapped, decorated and held the traditions together. For poems written for a parent for any time of year, see our funeral poems for mom and funeral poems for dad.

Merry Christmas to Mom in Heaven

Mom, the kitchen smells like you:
the cinnamon, the clove.
We used your handwritten recipes
and stood around your stove.

We wrapped the gifts in too much tape,
the way you liked them wrapped,
and saved one gift till very last,
then everybody clapped.

You made our Christmas every year,
and still, Mom, you are here.

Merry Christmas to Dad in Heaven

Dad, we put the lights up
and only one string blew.
We stood out in the driveway
and heard ourselves sound like you.

We carved the way you showed us,
we told your oldest joke,
and when we raised a glass tonight,
it was your name we spoke.

For a Grandparent

Grandma's table, Grandpa's chair,
the plates we only used this day.
The little ones will hear of you
in every game we play.

We'll tell them how you read aloud
the night before the day,
and that is how you'll stay with them,
in every word we say.

Christmas in Heaven Poems for a Husband, Wife or Child

For My Husband or Wife

I bought one gift this year, not two,
and stood a long while in the store,
remembering the Christmases
I'd shopped for you before.

So here's my gift: I'll keep your laugh,
your hand on mine at church,
and every year at Christmas
I'll know just where to search.

For a Child in Heaven

Your stocking hangs beside the rest,
the smallest one, the brightest red.
We fill it with the words we'd say
if we could tuck you into bed.

We'll light your candle at the tree
and say your name out loud,
and you will always be our child,
our star above the cloud.

Religious Christmas in Heaven Poems

For families of faith, Christmas carries its own comfort: the birth of the one in whom they hope to see their loved ones again.

Born in Bethlehem

The child was born in Bethlehem
so we would not be lost,
and now the one we love is home
because of what it cost.

So let the bells of Christmas ring,
and let our hearts be still.
The star that led the wise men on
is leading them there still.

A Christmas Prayer for Someone in Heaven

Lord, hold them close this Christmas night,
the one whose place is bare.
Let them sing Your carols
with the angels gathered there.

And give us peace to keep the day
the way they kept it too,
with open doors and open hands,
and hearts that trust in You.

Two verses many families add to a Christmas card or the back of a memorial card:

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

— Luke 2:10

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

— Revelation 21:4

For more scripture, see our Bible verses for funerals.

Classic Poems About Christmas and Grief

These were written by poets who had lost someone, and they are in the public domain, so you can print them anywhere.

Tennyson's First Christmas Without His Friend

Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote In Memoriam over seventeen years after his closest friend, Arthur Hallam, died at 22. These lines describe the first Christmas Eve without him: the family singing a song they had sung with him the year before.

With trembling fingers did we weave
The holly round the Christmas hearth;
A rainy cloud possess'd the earth,
And sadly fell our Christmas-eve.

Then echo-like our voices rang;
We sung, tho' every eye was dim,
A merry song we sang with him
Last year: impetuously we sang:

We ceased: a gentler feeling crept
Upon us: surely rest is meet:
'They rest,' we said, 'their sleep is sweet,'
And silence follow'd, and we wept.

— Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850)

Tennyson's Second Christmas

A year later, the poem returns to the same hearth, and the grief has changed. Many readers find these the most honest lines ever written about the second Christmas.

Again at Christmas did we weave
The holly round the Christmas hearth;
The silent snow possess'd the earth,
And calmly fell our Christmas-eve:

The yule-clog sparkled keen with frost,
No wing of wind the region swept,
But over all things brooding slept
The quiet sense of something lost.

— Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850)

Christmas Bells, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Longfellow wrote this on Christmas Day 1863, two years after his wife Fanny died in a fire and weeks after his son was badly wounded in the Civil War. It later became the carol "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christmas Bells (1863)

The Well-Known "Christmas in Heaven" Poems

If you are looking for a particular poem you saw shared online, it is probably one of these. They are recent poems still under copyright, so read them on the authors' own sites, and ask permission before printing them on cards or in a program.

• "Christmas in Heaven" by Wanda Bencke. The poem most often shared at Christmas, about a loved one spending Christmas with Jesus. Bencke keeps the official version on her own website.
• "Merry Christmas From Heaven" by John Mooney Jr. Written after his mother died, in her voice, telling the family not to grieve.
• "My First Christmas in Heaven". Shared widely in grief forums and church bulletins; its author is uncertain, so it is safest to use it only for private reading.
• "Christmas in Heaven," sung by Scotty McCreery, is a song, not a poem. You can play it at a memorial or include the title in a program, but the lyrics belong to the songwriters.

The original poems on this page are free to copy, print and share.

Ways to Use a Christmas in Heaven Poem

• In Christmas cards. Add a short verse below your usual message, or send a separate card to the people who loved them most.
• On an ornament or a stocking. Four lines fit on a gift tag tied to the tree, or a card slipped into their stocking.
• At the table. Ask a grandchild or a close friend to read a poem before the meal, then say their name and share one memory each.
• On a memorial card. A memorial card carries a photo and dates on the front and a short poem on the back, and makes a keepsake to give out at a Christmas gathering. For more wording ideas, see what to write on a memorial card.
• In a holiday tribute video. A short slideshow of their Christmases, made with our memorial video maker, can play quietly during the evening or be shared with family far away.
• At a December funeral. If the service falls near Christmas, a poem from this page fits at the end of the funeral program or as a reading before the eulogy.

Questions Families Ask

What is a good poem for a first Christmas in heaven?

Choose one that matches how your family talks. "Our First Christmas Without You" and "Your First Christmas There" above were written for that first year, and Tennyson's Christmas lines from In Memoriam describe it as well as anything ever written. If your family is religious, a short verse with Luke 2:10 works on a card.

What do you write in a Christmas card when someone has died?

Keep it short and say their name: "Thinking of you and of Mom this Christmas" says more than a long message. You can add a four-line poem from this page. For sympathy wording, see our quotes for loved ones who passed away.

How do you include someone who died in Christmas?

Many families hang their ornament first, light a candle at the table, set out their favorite dish, or read a poem before the meal. Small traditions like these give everyone permission to talk about them, which most people want even when they don't say so.

Can I print the "Christmas in Heaven" poem by Wanda Bencke?

It is still under copyright, so ask the author's permission before printing it on cards, ornaments or a program. The original poems and the public-domain classics on this page can be printed freely.

Is it okay to say "Merry Christmas in heaven"?

Yes. Many families write "Merry Christmas in heaven, Mom" on a card, a balloon or a social media post. It's a way of saying they are still part of the day.