I want to say I love you on your birthday,
Though love is something you don't want from me.
Things didn't go so well when I last said it,
And so I'll keep it silent in my heart.
But how the words reverberate within me!
A song that I must struggle not to sing,
A music I must dance to without motion,
A poem that I must never read aloud.

Your wishes are a wall I would not scale,
Yet won't abandon, loathe to leave behind.
I cannot have, and cannot bear to lose you,
And so I send you this in my despair.

Happy birthday to my dearest man,
A father after many years of trying.
Pleasure? Yes, of course, there's no denying;
Perhaps more, though, the angst of those who plan.
Yet now we have a boy, whose gurgles can
Bestow on us a love of life undying,
Immerse us in the bliss of happy sighing,
Remind us of the world when we began.
There is no view of heaven before dying;
However, this tutorial will do.
Deep though my joy, the well is deeper still,
Abysses far beyond my thought and will,
Yet not beyond my boundless love for you.

Happy birthday, Mother,
Even though you might prefer
Life without these markers,
Each too public to defer.
Now that you are fifty,
Sing to us your own sweet song,
That we might celebrate your life,
Rejoicing all night long.
Each of us has love to bring,
Each a special song to sing,
To lose your heart among.

For my aunt, the happiest of birthdays!
On this day your quiet soul should sing!
Rejoice in all the pleasure that this one day
Must to the kids who love you surely bring!
You, who give so much, should now be taking
All the affection we poor souls can show.
Understand this little fuss we're making
Nowhere near comes close to where we go,
Touched by love too beautiful to know.

Birthdays do not end with death,
But last as long as love,
A maelstrom of memories
That grace and honor move.
And so we celebrate your day
By visiting your grave,
A place that you have left long since,
But is all that we have.

Dear spirit, come and join us here,
Your loved ones by your stone!
Come sweep across the barrier
To claim us as your own!

Happy birthday, dearest one!
Oh, happy, happy day!
Not even the most bitter night
Can take this joy away!

I miss you on your birthday,
Not only for your smile,
But for the piece of me that's gone,
Left within your care.
I'm in an empty hallway
And have been for awhile,
Gazing inwardly towards home,
Neither here nor there.

How quickly we've turned distant!
The months pass by like years.
How could friends so inseparable
So soon seem so apart!

Wedding Poems