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So, it's a friend or family member's birthday and let's face it, those corny punch lines already printed on birthday cards just are not going to cut it this year. A solid birthday poem can really push a card over the top, but only if you can find the right words to express what you're hoping to say. No one wants their birthday poem to be too overt. Of course, no one wants to give their friend a dirty limerick for their birthday poem either.

Step #1 ' Find the Right Tone

Birthday poems range in all sizes and shapes, just like people. So, it stands to reason that there should be a perfectly suited poem available for nearly anyone you know. Step one then is to find the right tone for your birthday tone. Is it for your mother, your wife, your husband, your son or daughter, or maybe just a good friend or co-worker. Now, what kind of a poem would that person appreciate?

Step #2 ' Humor Goes a Long Way

Even for a spouse or family member, a funny birthday poem can be a light and distracting way to enjoy the annual reminder of how old they are. Jonathan Swift, the author Gulliver's Travels and one of the English language's first satirists wrote 'Stella's Birthday' for a woman with whom he frequently corresponded. With the light touch of humor that he imbued into everything he wrote, he reminded her of exactly how old she was:

Stella this day is thirty-four,
(We shan't dispute a year or more:)
However, Stella, be not troubled,
Although thy size and years are doubled,
Since first I saw thee at sixteen,
The brightest virgin on the green;
So little is thy form declin'd;
Made up so largely in thy mind.

Step #3 ' Being Wary

Of course, some instances of humor are best left untouched. If someone is particularly touchy about their age, finding a poem that outlines the exact age and then makes comment on the advanced decrepit state of that age is not the best idea. Be considerate even as you seek a light and humorous way to celebrate that most important of days.

Step #4 ' For that Special Someone

Birthday poems for a spouse or for a loved one can be a chance to really shine and show how much you love them. They can also be a chance to earn a few extra points with just the right lyrics. Christina Rosetti, a 19th century poet who spent a great deal of her life in and out of depressive states, wrote many beautiful lyrics, including 'A Birthday', a poem dedicated not just to a single birthday, but to the sensation and joy of a birthday as a metaphor for being in love:

Raise me a da's of silk and down;
Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
Carve it in doves and pomegranates,
And peacocks with a hundred eyes;
Work it in gold and silver grapes,
In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;
Because the birthday of my life
Is come, my love is come to me.

Step #5 ' Delivering the Birthday Poem

After choosing the right words, reading them over and over again and knowing that they fit the birthday boy or girl perfectly, it is time to decide how that birthday poem should be given to them. Humorous poems are best delivered in a card. They can be read over and over, shared with friends and hung upon the refrigerator for future laughs. Loving and personal poems are often better delivered in person, adding that intimate touch that can push a birthday poem over the top. However you decide to deliver it though, poetry on a loved one's birthday is a wonderful gift.