Birthday Sonnet
On Saturnalia, the Romans
(most famously) would take a day
or two to change things up, and no man's
slave, then, would wait on him. We may
find precedent in this for other
old feasts of fools, but fewer bother
to follow other customs from
that festival. And here we come
to my main point. A card with riddle
in poetic form, as a clue
to content, on a gift to you
revives their custom just a little.
(But since you'll have a book to read,
a "happy birthday"'s all you need.)

Previous Poem | Back to Table of Contents | Next Poem