Sudden Loss and Grief | This House Is Empty

About The Poem

This House Is Empty is a Christian Poem about grief. This poem explores the emotions of losing a loved one. It’s personal and doesn’t shy away from the heaviness attached to a grieving heart. I wrote This House Is Empty after the passing of my brother, Terence Lamarr Decker Jr (August 26th, 1989 – February 10th, 2025). His death was so unreal and unexpected. It left me feeling numb and broken. He was a huge part of my life, and to lose him so suddenly without warning was disorienting:

“My compressions could not bring breath into your lungs, and although I tried, I could not pray you back.”

This line is very emotional and important for me to write as I was working through everything I was feeling. I felt helpless while watching his face turn blue, and life leave his body.

I applied the compressions to his chest as instructed by the dispatcher, and I prayed so desperately for a miracle, but it just wasn’t enough: “I wanted nothing more than a miracle, but it did not come to visit me.” Writing This House Is Empty helped me to work through my grief in a healthy, non-destructive way. Poetry itself has become a sort of therapy for me, helping me work through and explore emotions too complicated for simple words.

Poetry is emotional and creates the space needed to be completely vulnerable and honest about heavier topics such as grief. “Hope no longer knows my name; Abandoned by Mercy and forgotten by Grace.” This line reflects the mindset you have when you’re heartbroken.

Grief keeps your mind stuck on your heart. Losing my brother has been the hardest thing I have experienced, but I can testify that the Lord is faithful and has turned my mourning into dancing (Psalm 30:11). I can testify that he is close to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18).

This House Is Empty

I swept the floors and bleached the hallway;
Nothing left in this old house.
Vast emptiness decorates these four walls.
If only walls could talk, what would they say?

Would they offer encouragement to a weary soul?
Or discuss among themselves how this weary heart needs more than help?
I watched the light leave this place; The day when Blue discolored your face.

My compressions could not bring breath into your lungs,
And although I tried, I could not pray you back.
Disbelief struck my mind and has left me numb.
Disorientation has bruised the heart of my sleeve.

This house is empty, the floors swept clean.
Nothing left in this old house.
Bleach stained my clothes, but I did not care.

I tried to pray you back,
But the LORD did not accept my prayer.
I wanted nothing more than a miracle, but it did not come to visit me.

Hope no longer knows my name;
Abandoned by Mercy and forgotten by Grace.
I am without a home; the light has left this place,
The day when Blue discolored my face.