Occasional Poems: Or, Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is July 18th, otherwise known as my birthday. So, of course, my birthday got me thinking about occasional poems--poems that are written for specific occasions, including weddings, funerals, graduations, and birthdays (especially mine!).

There are no specific guidelines for occasional poems outside, except that they mark a specific occasion. The poems can be long or short, serious or humorous, good or bad (ha!)--just as long as they mark the occasion.

While it's fun and challenging to write occasional poems on your own, they also open themselves up well to collaborations with other writers who also experience the occasion. For instance, I recently collaborated with another poet to mark the marriage of two good friends. It was fun and a unique (and thoughtful) bonus gift to mark the union of two people.

I will not share that poem with you, but I will share an example of an occasional poem for, of course, my birthday!

"My Birthday"

Snuck up on me this year,
the routine of growing older
making me think my biggest
achievement today was
getting in to work on time.
Well, that was good too, fine
enough for another day
where work sometimes feels like play.

(Okay, so I didn't re-write the "happy birthday" song. Cut me some slack; it's my birthday!)

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