A Birthday Spanking

A special poem for a special friend

Just where did the tradition start
Of giving birthday spankings smart?
And when does one outgrow the trend
Of turning ‘round, o’er knee to bend?
A single swat to mark each year
That one has spent in toil and cheer?
And sometimes ending with a pinch,
Supposedly to grow an inch?

The celebration of your birth
Well suits a time of joy and mirth.
It’s such a very special day
When friends and loved ones pause to say
The many ways you’ve given joy,
Both as a man and as a boy.
You’ve touched their lives in ways unknown,
As slowly to a man you’ve grown.

Some folks you’re daily touching still,
An emptiness perhaps to fill;
Each moment all you seek to do
Is just what God has asked of you.
And any good you may achieve,
You praise our Lord, that He receive
The honor that is His alone,
Beholding all that Christ has done.

Another soul blessed by your touch
Would like to thank you very much
For friendship precious, lasting, true,
For trust and hope I found in you.
You taught me I should cling to Christ,
For all my problems He sufficed,
And in the Bible I would find
The answers for my troubled mind.

It’s unconventional, I know,
This gift I now on you bestow.
I will not take you o’er my knee;
From birthday spankings you are free.
Your bottom will not feel a sting;
In fact, you won’t feel anything,
Unless you feel within your heart
The love I’ve sent you with my art.

Copyright © 2018 Abigail Gronway – All Rights Reserved

Scansion:
Octave chain in iambic tetrameter
Rhyme scheme: aabbccdd, etc.