Presently Surprised
Today is my birthday.
What gifts will I get?
I asked for some presents.
I don’t see them yet.
My parents and brother
and sister are here.
But where are the presents?
When will they appear?
The party is starting.
My friends are here now.
Did they all forget to
bring presents somehow?
I blow out the candles.
We all have some cake.
I still see no presents.
Is there some mistake?
We play a few games and
we have so much fun.
The presents I asked for?
I still don’t see one.
I went to my mom and said,
“Everyone’s here,
but where are the presents
I asked for this year?”
My mom said, “You don’t need
to look very far.
You asked for our presence
and so, here we are!”
Today was such fun that
I smiled and agreed.
It turns out their presence
is all that I need.
— Kenn Nesbitt
Copyright © 2024. All Rights Reserved.
Reading Level: Grade 1
Topics: Birthday, Holiday Poems, Other Holidays, Poems about Friends and Family
Poetic Techniques: Dialogue, Irony, Narrative Poems, Pun Poems, Repetition
About This Poem
President’s Day is a holiday in the United States where we celebrate the birthdays of two of our most famous presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. But, because I normally post new poems every Monday, and the coming Monday was a school holiday in the US, I decided to write a poem to post on the following day.
As it happens, the Tuesday after President’s Day this year is MY birthday, so I wrote a poem about a birthday party where I asked for one thing but got something different, and it turned out to be exactly what a really wanted and needed… the presence of my family and friends, not their presents.
I hope you enjoy reading this poem as much as I enjoyed writing it. And when your birthday comes around, I hope you get exactly what you want and need.
Worksheet
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