Holding on

Hold on to life until there's none to give,
Hold on until the spirit fails to move.
Which part is cast, what prompts the final bow
Remain unknown until the boards are trod.

So seize each day upon the break of dawn,
Give what's to give within affection's gift
And cherish the response it calls to life.

Evocation

At midnight raindrops patter and I listen,
Reflecting that but one of us now hears
What long ago attended our admission
Of shared affection spoken through our tears.

So sound and silence animate anew
A memory consigned to shallow rest,
And wake it from soft slumber to imbue
A past quiescent with a new born zest.

Birthday has arrived

The time has come to spread good cheer
As you achieve your moving goal
To prosper through the present year
With gladness smiling from your soul.
One twelvemonth goes, another starts
For your first child to capture hearts.

A tardy if a heart-felt wish

I plumb forgot your birthday, Ginger Dear -
No thought to check my list of dates, I fear.
Belatedly, I'd say that, on my part,
The lack lay in my mind, not in my heart.
So here's a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" wish from me,
Who deems you near, though far across the sea.

To A

So life advances, bringing joy and cheer
As you prepare to bear your tender heir,
And feel the happy birthday hour draw near
When you will fold your new born in your care.

The new arrival

Though birthing is an everyday event
On whose occurrence heart to heart will move,
No individual's every day is spent
In bringing to the world a life to love.

Arrivals that are new are nothing new -
Unless, that is, their destination's you,
And what is new to you will stand compare
When measured by the joy we all shall share.