my day today was ruined
before I even got out of bed
the cat died
sometime in the night
and did not lick my face
at dawn as usual
TEARS BEFORE BREAKFAST
a new
poet or two, a new pair of books
garnered
from the annual poetry festival
to
which I am a first-timer
which
shall I read first?
setting
aside my Sunday newspaper
time
enough for that reality stuff later
I
pitch into a slim volume
reflecting
now on that sudden onset of darkness
I never
knew what hit me
strumming,
murmuring, swaying, swooning
knocked
off balance
my
sense of me, split
me,
spilt all over the floor
like that carton of milk after I saw
that
mouse on the kitchen floor that time
floored now this time
I'm smitten by my new pet poet
floored now this time
I'm smitten by my new pet poet
the softest
kitten fur
playful batting mitten paws
squeaky
bright eyes following the yarn trail
Curses!
I have been hornswaggled by a new poet
a new
sweet, sultry voice
irresistibly
drowning me in siren song
just
what I needed
what was it that had falsely
me assured me that I could
read just a little before breakfast
read just a little before breakfast
then
get up from the couch
grab a
second cup of coffee
finish
reading the newspaper
and
get on with my life?
now I
have poet vertigo
nothing
looks the same
I'm
different
the
world is reeling and demands a new accounting
I'm
busy
inundated
deafened,
blinded to the cares of my
ordinarily
demanding world I see
untidy
dirty dishes, wash yourselves!
dust bunnies, go back to sleep!
the daddy long legs will
take
care of your pesky residents for me
and I
will cry real tears before breakfast
hearing
the calming soothe, the echo of your voice
the crickets low chirping
the mourning dove's
coo-oooh!-coo-coo-coo-ing
the creek noise flowing, slowing my start,
stilling my heart
now... wolves
howling, bats yowling, dogs growling
unfed, unloved
babies
wailing, diaper-pailing daddies
nailing boards up before the storm
paling
shimmering light, stars, night
waves
waving, sailing
trailing,
womanly, four feet behind my newest poet
my voluptuous
curves curving, serving, trotting
besotted
beside my newest dearest friend
would
this never end!
plotting
a hold on my latest treasure, braver
demanding
we're eternally together
my sweet, fathomless new poet love
my sweet, fathomless new poet love
When My Vagina Saved My Life
Vietnam conflict
our male classmates fought and died
we girls weren't drafted
our male classmates fought and died
we girls weren't drafted
Suggestions
when i write poetry
i take the rules of english
as suggestions
made by a maiden aunt with alzheimer's
giving me wedding night advice
on my 33rd wedding anniversary
kiss his fingertips first
she admonishes
from memory
mistaking her sister's newborn
for the man of her dreams
she never married
quotation marks
missing
who cares who said what when
or why or how
poems
are fodder for the scatterbrain
feeding on itself
in a frenzy
of catch-up nutrition
vitamins for the soul
word figments mistaken for leafy greens
imagggine nations
roaring
into second place
with shame lowered eyes
spelling "beautiful" without the "a"
a fifth grade spelling bee
middle school social golf course hazard
the ball sliced into the woods
missing the pond
but also missing the green
rows upon rows of gold stars
awarded for perfect spelling
notwithstanding
capitalization
is for the birds
crows perched on the roof
waiting for trash day
and a neighborhood acquaintance carelessly exposing
the rotten morsels
that all crows love
the mighty comma
wallows in self pity
ignored forgotten maligned
OUT OF PLACE
no room for commas
when carriage returns do just nicely
thank you berry much
my poet
fast food word deliverer
leave us not forget the colloquialisms
the expletives
the borrowed-from-the-french
the technical terms with no cousins in the thesaurus
these fiends all exorcised from true poetry
poems, after all, are written to say
"I LOVE YOU!"
in a language you the reader want to understand
for a share of this lovingkindness
you are willing to sift through
word detritus
wade through undetectable grammatical fauxs pas
and put up with mismanagement of vowels
we can all do just fine without
"Rules of English"
when we want to feel alive loved
we'll die soon enough
our tombstone and obituary
will be carefully edited
for Proper English
by somebody who cares for English
but has never met Our Heart
i take the rules of english
as suggestions
made by a maiden aunt with alzheimer's
giving me wedding night advice
on my 33rd wedding anniversary
kiss his fingertips first
she admonishes
from memory
mistaking her sister's newborn
for the man of her dreams
she never married
quotation marks
missing
who cares who said what when
or why or how
poems
are fodder for the scatterbrain
feeding on itself
in a frenzy
of catch-up nutrition
vitamins for the soul
word figments mistaken for leafy greens
imagggine nations
roaring
into second place
with shame lowered eyes
spelling "beautiful" without the "a"
a fifth grade spelling bee
middle school social golf course hazard
the ball sliced into the woods
missing the pond
but also missing the green
rows upon rows of gold stars
awarded for perfect spelling
notwithstanding
capitalization
is for the birds
crows perched on the roof
waiting for trash day
and a neighborhood acquaintance carelessly exposing
the rotten morsels
that all crows love
the mighty comma
wallows in self pity
ignored forgotten maligned
OUT OF PLACE
no room for commas
when carriage returns do just nicely
thank you berry much
my poet
fast food word deliverer
leave us not forget the colloquialisms
the expletives
the borrowed-from-the-french
the technical terms with no cousins in the thesaurus
these fiends all exorcised from true poetry
poems, after all, are written to say
"I LOVE YOU!"
in a language you the reader want to understand
for a share of this lovingkindness
you are willing to sift through
word detritus
wade through undetectable grammatical fauxs pas
and put up with mismanagement of vowels
we can all do just fine without
"Rules of English"
when we want to feel alive loved
we'll die soon enough
our tombstone and obituary
will be carefully edited
for Proper English
by somebody who cares for English
but has never met Our Heart
Stay tuned...
I finally collected my poetry into a book to be entitled, "Mourning Dove Dawn." I will be making the book available for purchase as a hard-cover book, a soft-cover book, and also as an e-book... once I figure out how to do all that! This is my first attempt at self-publishing.
The e-book will most likely sell for the minimum, which I think at the moment is ninety-nine cents in American money. The soft-cover book will be made available as inexpensively as possible, but the hard-cover book will be pricey, as I want to make it a beautiful treasure and keepsake, as much for my own benefit as for those who might like to own one or give it as a gift.
I love the smell of new books. I love the feel of a book in my hand, and the way it looks as I leaf through its pages. Though I have never been a fan of dust jackets, I love attached bookmark ribbons and gilt edges and pretty, rose-printed end papers on linen-bound books. In selecting a printing format, I will probably have to settle for what I can afford. I am shopping around.
All of my poetry will still be available for free on this blog or wherever else I manage to post, though many poems have since been edited or updated or re-written altogether, and I have not always kept my blogs up-to-date with the near-constant revisions.
If you want a better-formed book of my poems and you want to make arrangements with a printer, I would be happy to provide the content for these words to be printed up to create the gorgeous book of your dreams.
If you would like to make books of my words available for sale, please distribute any profits according to my wishes: use the proceeds to make books and musical instruments available to all, along with the teaching of the skills necessary to employ them, and do what is possible to assure people have the time to actively pursue the creation of their own music and their own combinations of words.
You can choose to print all or just a selection of the poems, whichever you would most enjoy. The poems may be printed out, one per page, with plenty of blank space for your notes or for journaling. They can be made into a calendar, printed on a tee shirt or mug or other object. I myself have printed out my haiku on single business cards, and collected the cards into a three-ring binder, for easy reference.
The making of books no longer needs to be done the old-fashioned way. I ask only that you not combine my words with those of others, which might create a different story than the one I have intended to tell, unless I have granted such permission in advance, or unless you are absolutely sure that including my words in a collection will not alter my message.
I am excited to be bringing to print my first book.
In my mind, every hard-bound book should have on its inside cover a white square sticker that announces "This book belongs to _________" and have a single name proudly handwritten on the line. This sticker is designed to encourage the free lending out and then the happy return of the book to its owner.
In my mind, every hard-bound book given as a gift needs a written explanation on the blank page inside the front cover, as to why it was specifically selected for the recipient, out of the myriad possibilities in gift-giving. You may use this:
My Dearest,
Many happy returns to you as we together celebrate the anniversary of your birth! The day you came into my life was a day that changed me forever for the better.
I hope this book brings you joy and courage and wisdom and happiness and peace of mind and all the wonderful things it has brought to me. All that, and more good I wish for you as you continue your journey through time and space.
I hope you come to cherish this book's continuous freshness as I have. I enjoyed it the first time I read it and have looked forward with increasing pleasure to spending yet another bit of quiet time with this old friend.
With All My Tender Love,
Yours Truly
P.S. Always remember, whatever the question, love is the answer. I'll love you forever!"
It saddens me to see good books tied up and sitting at the curb, heartlessly discarded and waiting to be taken away for permanent disposal. When you are ready to part with it, please make your best effort to find and give this book to someone new who will hopefully appreciate it.
More to come...
The e-book will most likely sell for the minimum, which I think at the moment is ninety-nine cents in American money. The soft-cover book will be made available as inexpensively as possible, but the hard-cover book will be pricey, as I want to make it a beautiful treasure and keepsake, as much for my own benefit as for those who might like to own one or give it as a gift.
I love the smell of new books. I love the feel of a book in my hand, and the way it looks as I leaf through its pages. Though I have never been a fan of dust jackets, I love attached bookmark ribbons and gilt edges and pretty, rose-printed end papers on linen-bound books. In selecting a printing format, I will probably have to settle for what I can afford. I am shopping around.
All of my poetry will still be available for free on this blog or wherever else I manage to post, though many poems have since been edited or updated or re-written altogether, and I have not always kept my blogs up-to-date with the near-constant revisions.
If you want a better-formed book of my poems and you want to make arrangements with a printer, I would be happy to provide the content for these words to be printed up to create the gorgeous book of your dreams.
If you would like to make books of my words available for sale, please distribute any profits according to my wishes: use the proceeds to make books and musical instruments available to all, along with the teaching of the skills necessary to employ them, and do what is possible to assure people have the time to actively pursue the creation of their own music and their own combinations of words.
You can choose to print all or just a selection of the poems, whichever you would most enjoy. The poems may be printed out, one per page, with plenty of blank space for your notes or for journaling. They can be made into a calendar, printed on a tee shirt or mug or other object. I myself have printed out my haiku on single business cards, and collected the cards into a three-ring binder, for easy reference.
The making of books no longer needs to be done the old-fashioned way. I ask only that you not combine my words with those of others, which might create a different story than the one I have intended to tell, unless I have granted such permission in advance, or unless you are absolutely sure that including my words in a collection will not alter my message.
I am excited to be bringing to print my first book.
In my mind, every hard-bound book should have on its inside cover a white square sticker that announces "This book belongs to _________" and have a single name proudly handwritten on the line. This sticker is designed to encourage the free lending out and then the happy return of the book to its owner.
In my mind, every hard-bound book given as a gift needs a written explanation on the blank page inside the front cover, as to why it was specifically selected for the recipient, out of the myriad possibilities in gift-giving. You may use this:
My Dearest,
Many happy returns to you as we together celebrate the anniversary of your birth! The day you came into my life was a day that changed me forever for the better.
I hope this book brings you joy and courage and wisdom and happiness and peace of mind and all the wonderful things it has brought to me. All that, and more good I wish for you as you continue your journey through time and space.
I hope you come to cherish this book's continuous freshness as I have. I enjoyed it the first time I read it and have looked forward with increasing pleasure to spending yet another bit of quiet time with this old friend.
With All My Tender Love,
Yours Truly
P.S. Always remember, whatever the question, love is the answer. I'll love you forever!"
It saddens me to see good books tied up and sitting at the curb, heartlessly discarded and waiting to be taken away for permanent disposal. When you are ready to part with it, please make your best effort to find and give this book to someone new who will hopefully appreciate it.
More to come...
Happy Not-My-Own-Religion Holiday
"Haiku Greeting Cards For All Occasions"
as you celebrate
your wrong religious beliefs
I'm happy with you
as you celebrate
your wrong religious beliefs
I'm happy with you
No Visible Marks
poet
what made you a poet
what made you a poet
what made you pause
in the middle of an otherwise ordinary life
and made you stop
to smell the roses
and write it down
what terrible farce
of the frailties of human existence
did you witness
or did you play a forced role
no one could possibly imagine
so you recorded it
for humanity's sake
for your own sake
to assure yourself you were still grounded
and not swept up in the madness all around you
are your words
an unleashed warning
to the innocent
rhetorical questions
in poetry
in poetry
never require question marks
as you know
fellow poet
fellow poet
Not All Poems Have A Title
not all poems rhyme
not all haiku have a season word
not all smiles are returned
White and Black
I am white and when I see a person of
color
I notice that I'm not a person of color
I am instantly reminded
that there exists in our world
the human thought of racism
and I believe that racism is evil
The thought that evil exists is a painful
thought
I am white and when I see a person of
color
I notice that I'm not a person of color
and I feel pain
I
am white and when I see a person of color
I
notice that they are a person of color
I
am instantly reminded
that
there exists in our world
the
human thought of racism
and
I believe that racism is evil
and
I remember that the two co-exist
The
evil of racism / The thought that racism is evil
and
I believe that all evil things will end
The
thought that evil will end gives me great joy
I
am white and when I see a person of color
I
notice that they are a person of color
and
I feel joy
how to have a happy spouse
(haiku)
live in harmony
men, put the toilet seat down
women, shut up
(An alternate title for this poem is "The Ups and Downs of Marriage.")
live in harmony
men, put the toilet seat down
women, shut up
(An alternate title for this poem is "The Ups and Downs of Marriage.")
intimate connections
(inspired by "The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow"
by Jerome K. Jerome, available free on Project Gutenberg)
(haiku)
the tiny coral
the tiny coral
laboring to build his house
joins two continents
Shared Decembers
(Inspired by a translation of Catullus’s famous funeral poem known as “Hail and Farewell”)
when I heard
my heart dropped, through the floor
I flew through airports, never seeing doors
hot tears swept visions from my head
our shared Decembers
not a shred left
visions from my head fled
when I arrived
to see your body stretched abed
I cried my final words, as well unsaid
for all the ears you've left for hearing
too‐late pleas for one last shred
of brother's pranks and drunken phone calls,
retorts of sound advice
brothers' love
visions in your head
echoes of my sound advice
calling twice
I love you, bro
I love you, too
a brother's love
and sound advice
calling twice
I love you, man
I love you, too
a brother's love
echoes of sound advice
our lives
they somehow came apart
untwined from days of bunk beds
game controllers
sets of Legos
Nerf Gun wars, broken vases
Texas Hold 'Em table, cards and chips
matching Spring Break surfboards
push‐ups
foreign trips
apart, yet brothers
shared excitement
fading quickly
frozen memories
one toboggan sled,
one ride, two grown-up men
sopping wet
from flooded brother's eyes
a brand‐new suit
a tie
a shirt you'd never buy
they've dressed you for your trip
to where, I cannot guess
I'll find out soon enough
tomorrow
soon enough
who cares!
we shared Decembers!
listening
to my echoed calls
our highs and lows
"What's up?"
"Take care, bro!"
we still say,
"See you later..."
"next year's wedding..."
"family funeral..."
"birthday party..."
shared Decembers
What's In This Poetry Blog?
Mourning Dove Dawn
Table of Contents
What Is Poetry?
poetry concepts defined
but not pinned down nor cornered nor tortured into conformity
Precision Warriors: A
Poet's Hall of Fame
sharing the human
connection with those who have also paid attention
Season Sushi
flowing through the
physical world on a time surfboard
Nature Struck
the awesome that happens
when you disconnect from all things electric and simply pay attention to what's
left after that
Haiku Collections
each bunch is a whirlwind
of poems rounded up and tied together with a pretty ribbon
A Parent Gives
on discovering a loved
one's implosion
Haibun (prose with
haiku)
created when a beloved haiku
poem-child of mine whispers to me begging permission to venture forth and seek
out its own further extrapolation
Image Poetry (poem/image)
a picture-poem partially
composed of its own correspondence with the universe
Haiga (haiku with image)
a story in which the
words argue with the picture and vice versa
Committing Poetry
on the act of placing
words adjacent to one another using a heart mirror
Shards of Discarded Soul
Mates
an archaeological dig
into what once had been deceived into believing it was able to master a willing
young soul
Global Heartwarming
baby steps toward the
idea of what humanity might be shopping for in building the utopia of its
dreams
Shorter Poems
it just is
Longer Poems
after diving headfirst
into the depths of an idea and finding oneself surfacing in the center of a word
conflagration
Poem Pastiche (all poems, titles)
distilled verbose thoughts
Order, Alphabetical (all poems, first lines)
first lines of poems in
this poetry collection
Blog Archive
titles of all entries in
this blog but not necessarily in the order in which they were written
Pi-ku
In honor of Pi Day, here is a radical of "pi-ku"
(eight-syllable poems in three lines, of 3, 1, and 4 syllables)
Pi Poem Piquant
key lime pie
melds
sweet and sour
Pi Poem Party
celebrate
"pi"
eat a "pi"zza
Pi Poem Puzzles
mathematics
solves
great mysteries
Pi Poem Passionate
skipping stones
laughs
skinny dipping
Pi Poem Pretend
carrot nose
scarf
coal eyes and mouth
Pi Poem Pasture
campfire songs
moon
whispering in tents
Pi Poem Pick
certainty
doubt
just one of these
Pi Poem Pre-Teens
my first kiss
lips
over braces
(eight-syllable poems in three lines, of 3, 1, and 4 syllables)
Pi Poem Piquant
key lime pie
melds
sweet and sour
Pi Poem Party
celebrate
"pi"
eat a "pi"zza
Pi Poem Puzzles
mathematics
solves
great mysteries
Pi Poem Passionate
skipping stones
laughs
skinny dipping
Pi Poem Pretend
carrot nose
scarf
coal eyes and mouth
Pi Poem Pasture
campfire songs
moon
whispering in tents
Pi Poem Pick
certainty
doubt
just one of these
Pi Poem Pre-Teens
my first kiss
lips
over braces
smoldering coals
(haiku)
snowstorm's flurries swirl
staying warm by the unlit hearth
reading love letters from old boyfriends
teen magazine
(haiku)
quiz: "What is true love?"
wait... I know this one... I think...
give me a minute...
Forms of Poetry
GLOSSARY: "poem" "haiku"
"senryu"
poem
A "poem" is a word or words that move a person,
either a writer or a reader. More specifically, whatever the poet says is a
poem, is a poem. He should know. He created it. Ditto for the reader. When the
reader comes into contact with words and says, "That's poetry!" it is
poetry. Additionally, anything besides words that evokes in the mind of a
person the feeling that they have just had a poetic experience, is defined as
poetry.
Traditionally, a poem is a beautiful word drawing, meant to
capture the essence of a strong emotion and place it in the reader's mind. It
has been gained through the poet's close observation, fostered by his
recognition of a truth about human life. This recognition of a universal truth
creates a feeling of connectedness among those who come to an understanding and
full appreciation of this truth, of themselves with other people and with the
universe; and creates in them a calmness of sense that one has a place within
that universe, and imports a sense that one is in possession of a particular
knowledge about that space and about oneself. Or, a knowledge that there is no
rhyme or reason to the universe, so there is no hope of placement within it, or
connection to it or to other people. This feeling, too, of the futility of
believing that there is a connection possible, paradoxically connects one with others
who have also recognized this futility as a truth. Whatever is the feeling
induced by the poetic experience, it stands to comfort the poet and the reader
in a way that is biologically satisfying, waking up the area of the brain
connected to honing the social skills necessary for survival. Because proper
use of this area of the brain is so closely related to one's actual survival,
poetry is a particularly personal and invasive experience.
Traditional forms of poetry additionally follow specific
constraining rules, such as a limit to the number of syllables in a line, a
particular numbered sequence of lines, or a rhyming structure in a series of
lines.
haiku
"Haiku" is a work of art that can only be created
in a pen and ink drawing using the traditional characters of the Japanese
language. It is a poem gained through observation and description of nature and
reflective of a truth about the human condition.
"Traditional haiku" is a poem evoking the haiku
experience, though it may be created in any language.
"Natural haiku" contains reference only to that
which is observed in the natural world untouched by humans. No direct mention
is made of the existence of any human thought or activity.
A haiku which contains a reference to nature may also contain
a reference to a human experience. The one is used to illustrate and deepen
understanding of the other.
A haiku is very short; it can be spoken aloud in a single
breath. It contains a season word meant to evoke a memory of a physical
reaction of the human body in its ever-changing natural environment, or an
emotional reaction of the human spirit to changes it encounters in its
ever-changing environment.
The experiencing of a haiku evokes a sudden change in
perspective which creates a surprise, which, in the reader, leads to the
recognition of the point in the poet's mind from which he leaped; this is
similar to an "aha!" moment.
More broadly, "haiku" is a poem that can be
written in any language and, though incorporation of a "season word"
is desirable, it is not required. All of the other elements of constraint in
the creation of a traditional haiku do still apply.
"Five-seven-five haiku" is a three-line haiku
written in seventeen syllables under syllabic constraints for each line; the
first, second, and third lines must contain five, seven, and five spoken
syllables, respectively. The poet may follow the constraint of using the
dictionary-defined syllabic structure of a word, but it is preferred to use the
spoken language in determining syllable count. Pronunciation of syllables
depends on the speaker, who may be speaking in a particular dialect or may use
syllables in a different manner than usual for emotional or dramatic effect.
Therefore, the word "poem" may be counted as one or two syllables,
depending on how it is spoken within the poem. In reading aloud any 5-7-5
haiku, the reader must find the correct syllable structure to speak the poem
aloud so that it adds up to exactly seventeen syllables. Any summation to
seventeen syllables is acceptable, even if they do not fit neatly into the
5-7-5 three-line structure, though the 5-7-5 structure is the aim. The idea is
to achieve a balance of the three spoken lines that effects the feeling
experienced in using the 5-7-5 structure.
Each of the three lines in a 5-7-5 haiku can be read
independently of the others, and each is a complete thought and expresses its
own meaning. Together, the three lines express an extended thought.
"Seventeen-syllable haiku" follows the rules for
5-7-5 haiku, except that the seventeen syllables do not need to break neatly
into three lines which each can be read independently of the other two lines.
The definition of haiku, similar to the definition of a
poem, is further expanded to include anything at all deemed to be haiku by its
creator or by the one who experiences it.
"American haiku" may be any form of haiku created
by one who identifies as American.
"Found haiku" is the poem which results from a
reader's having fortuitously discovered that he has stumbled across something
extraordinary: a haiku has been brazenly hiding in plain sight among the
ordinary words of prose he had been perusing. The bits which comprise the haiku
are then carefully collected and stored for future enjoyment. Knowing that such
treasures exist in the wild adds a level of excitement to reading. Keep your
eyes open; a haiku might be so close that, if it was a snake, it would have bit
you.
Any haiku can be breaking any or all of the rules of haiku
and still be a haiku.
Examples of different forms of haiku may be found on the
website: https://sites.google.com/site/susannaleepoetry/
senryu
A senryu is any haiku that breaks the rules of traditional
haiku but calls for its own label because it has less to do with a reference to
nature and more to do with the dark humor which results from close observation
of any one (or more) of the elements which comprise all things human.
I prefer to label all of my "senryu" as
"haiku." I ignore the term "senryu," as I don't intend for
readers to have to keep straight those distinctions which are borderline in
adding meaning to this venture.
speeding ticket explanation
(haiku)
eight eyes, hairy legs
black spider on my dashboard
it jumps! STEP ON IT!
stormy harbor
(haiku)
"All hands below deck!"
"Ideas?" "Yes, more champagne!"
lightning threatens yacht
taking flight
(haiku)
birds, squirrels, dragonflies,
bats, butterflies, hummingbirds,
soaring in my mind
what if
what if the best tasting foods
were also the most nutritious?
what if the most fun thing to do
was also good exercise?
what if doing what makes you most happy
would also make others ecstatic?
what if we had all of the answers
and also knew all of the questions?
were also the most nutritious?
what if the most fun thing to do
was also good exercise?
what if doing what makes you most happy
would also make others ecstatic?
what if we had all of the answers
and also knew all of the questions?
what are we fighting for?
(haiku)
war is always fought
so that worthy survivors
can enjoy world peace
war is always fought
so that worthy survivors
can enjoy world peace
Haiku Gift Cards
The 5-7-5 Wishing Well
greeting cards for all occasions
NEWBORN
having a baby
changes your life forever
cherish these moments
FIRST BIRTHDAY
a child's precious smiles
such wondrous joy to behold!
our hearts are captured
RITE OF PASSAGE INTO YOUNG ADULTHOOD
today you're grown up
new responsibilities
you will make us proud
NEW DRIVER
look out, new driver!
don't worry, it's okay
no money for gas
18TH BIRTHDAY
you're eighteen years old
not a baby anymore
now you can pay rent
HIGH-SCHOOL GRADUATION
as you find your path
we expect great things from you
make us very proud
COLLEGE GRADUATION
great accomplishment!
you've earned a college degree
don't you feel smarter?
ENGAGEMENT
made for each other
planning to share a new life
let love guide you on
WEDDING
together as one
you begin this adventure
enjoy the journey
FIRST PREGNANCY
heard you're expecting
parenthood's not for sissies
sleep now, while you can
PARTY INVITATION
you are invited!
join us as we celebrate
make our joy complete
COME-AS-YOU-ARE PARTY
what are you wearing?
come to our party like that
dress as you are now
FAMILY REUNION
if you think you're weird
you should see the rest of us
meet your relatives
CHRISTMAS
if "Joy" were a gift
I could put under the tree
I'd wrap one for you
HAPPY NOT-MY-OWN-RELIGION HOLIDAY
as you celebrate
your wrong religious beliefs
I'm happy with you
HAPPY NOT-MY-OWN-RELIGION HOLIDAY
as you celebrate
your wrong religious beliefs
I'm happy with you
HOLIDAY
the best things in life
you can't put into a box
I wish these for you
THANK YOU TO A VOLUNTEER
we appreciate
from the bottom of our hearts
all the good you do
COMING OUT
sharing this moment
is especially joyful
so happy for you!
BIRTHDAY FOR
ONE WHO HAS EVERYTHING
congratulations!
you have everything you need
and you're still breathing
OVER-THE-HILL BIRTHDAY
you still surprise me
birthdays chase you and chase you
but you outrun them
RETIREMENT
leisure awaits you
RETIREMENT
leisure awaits you
free time to do what you want
relax. you've earned it
relax. you've earned it
MISSING YOU
you live far away
yet I see your smiling face
each night in my dreams
RECONCILIATION
remembering you
I think of all we once had
and I want you back
DOWN-SIZING
you told me your boss
doesn't need you anymore
that must be so hard
you told me your boss
doesn't need you anymore
that must be so hard
DIFFICULT SITUATION
you are not alone
as you face this new challenge
I'm here by your side
SICKNESS
sorry you are ill
hoping modern medicine
makes you better soon
ACCIDENT
life just isn't fair
let me know what I can do
as you recover
INTERVENTION
just want to tell you
I like you when you're sober
love you either way
HOSPICE
wishing you great strength
through what you are facing now
call me anytime
SYMPATHY
so very sorry
for the loss of your loved one
I am here for you
LOSS OF A BELOVED
PET
having a great pet
is one of life's true treasures
so sad for your loss
100TH BIRTHDAY
one hundred years young
I look to your example
my inspiration
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