Birthday Poems


From Cer and Cher

Birthday Poems

Every year, we write poems to each other for our birthdays. Here are three for the grand age of twenty-eight (passed in 1983) and one for twenty-nine, and a few more for good measure!

Alas! Our fate at twenty-eight:
The nights are getting colder
From five to ten to teens
Til when we're only growing older
But, looking back, the decades lack --
In one thing do they falter
We've never met each other yet
In joinings at the altar

We've lost it now, it's over the hill
I saw it slipping down
I know today's your birthday
Try not to wear a frown!
It's time to face the facts, my friend
There's nothing else to do
So, cheer up! And treat yourself today
To new orthopedic shoes!
I never knew it went so fast
A truth there's no debating
Friend of mine, "It's over now!"
We're twenty-eight going on eighty!

Just a Dream

I wish you had a beautiful house out in the country so fair
And Sunday afternoon your friends could dress up and visit you there
And all your children could play in the field or in the tall tree swing
And you could watch from your curtain-laced window and know it's a beautiful thing
And you could work at your country store all full of antique wares
And manage all so very well you'd never have to care
And all these dreams are mine as well, for I would live next door
Living on my Red Velvet Ranch, happy forever more

Cheryl Tolley, November 1983; © Cheryl Tolley 1997

Reply

We have our homes and families
and work to do each day
The dreams we laid in childhood
took wings and flew away
Those dreams replaced by others
then more to take their place
Til we woke up one morning
to the future taking place
We're in the Now and Present
and struggling with a plan
To forget about tomorrow
until it's in our hands
The work we do this morning
Will sprout a little branch
For me, window-laced curtains
for you, your Red Velvet Ranch

Ceridwen Keeley, November 1984 © 1997
To Cer

I guess things aren't as bad as they seem
To be this old is no crime
I know we're not young whippersnappers
Why - we're just in our prime!
You have to admit we're happier now
Than we ever have been before
It took so long to get this far
and we have many years to go
It's time to change our attitude
AND START OUR LIFE ANEW
Just thank the stars we're '29'
-- We could be 92!

Cher Tolley, November 1984 © 1997
To Cher, at 44

Miles and miles have fallen between us
And acres of smiles are lost
Somehow the summer has frittered away
and the ground's getting ready for frost
When we were much younger the whole year was summer
No blizzards to whiten our skies
But time and the tides of the world and our lives
Have muted the sparkle in both of our eyes
What have we been through and what lies in store?
So much and too much to believe
I truthfully doubt we could take any more
How much more of life can we grieve?
But some things are beautiful
Memories count
And plans for the future endure
It's nice to rely on the kindness of friends
And our friendship will always be sure
Now we're in our forties and gradually
Our prophecies coming to pass
The shoes and the curtains and all of our sport
That has withered like autumnal grass
So light up the candles and bring on the cake
Invite all your friends in to share
But Cheryl remember, for both of our sakes
Make sure that the fire department is there!

Cer 1999 © 1999

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© 1997 cerandcher@oocities.com

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