Birthday Poems: A Celebration

by Jason Shinder (Editor)

Birthday Poems presents an array of more than 100 friendly, wise, affectionate voices including William Carlos Williams, Kay Boyle, Allen Ginsberg, and June Jordan on the subject of birthdays. The birth of a son or daughter, the passionate address to another on the occasion of their birth, memories of birthdays past, birthday parties and rituals, the blessings of being alive and the knowledge of time passing, literary tributes from one writer to another, are some of the catalysts for many of the poems. The ultimate birthday gift, Birthday Poems will include a subject index making it easy to find favorite poems for husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends or the year being celebrated. It will also include a preface on the history of birthdays and a postscript about the most popular song in the world, "Happy Birthday To You," the everywhere-known lyrics written by two women in Lexington, Kentucky in the late nineteenth century.

Genres: Poetry

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Sara Tiede · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skipped and passed a lot in this collection, so perhaps I missed some actually celebratory selections. I realize that there are many different responses to birthdays, and the concrete evidence of growing older. But the vast majority of this collection seemed to lean towards the mauldin and remorseful, and there was very little of the flip side. I had kind of hoped at least SOME birthday poems would actually celebrate the occasion. And more personally than for some famous person. Maybe next year I'll give the second half another try, and see if there's something cheerful or even joyful to be ready here, but that's enough for now.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review on my 30th birthday:
A surprisingly good collection of birthday poems from Frank O'Hara and Ted Berrigan to EE Cummings, Jack Spicer, Robert Creeley, Gregory Corso, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Anne Waldman and Bernadette Mayer, among many others.

Here's an excerpt from Spicer's poem:

The last word is agape.
The dancer that puts birthdays in motion.
She is there to lead words.
Counter to everything. She makes words
Circle around Her. Words dance.
See them. Anthropos ageless.
Andros made virgin, Eros unmirrored
Thanatos devoured.
Agape, Agape, ring-mistress,
Love
That comes from beyond birthdays,
That makes poetry
And moves stars.