Poems for Family Reunions...

reflect a yearning for happiness and love.

There are so many touching poems for family reunions. It’s just a matter of finding the right fit. The following poems are about families. These nostalgic poems are about

They would be great for a family meeting, reunion invitation, scrapbooking, family cookbook or directory.

I’ve divided these poems for family reunions
into the following topics:

Feel like sharing? You can also submit your own favorite poems for family reunions.

Remembering the past

I remember
by Eloise Greenfield

I remember
walking down the street beside
Uncle Eddie’s legs
taking a nap in Mama’s lap
talking to the pigeons in the park
I remember
my fuzzy hat, my yellow cat
my potty pot
I remember a lot
but I wish I remembered
what I forgot.

Reflections on Another Day
©2003 by Susan Noyes Anderson, His Children, Vantage Point Press

Come, speak to me of times gone by.
Remind me of our carefree youth.
Recall with me those nights we sang
and laughed and thought we knew the truth.

Come, speak to me of times gone by.
Remind me of my dancing feet.
Recall with me those days we knew
the world was ours, and life was sweet.

{Return to poems for family reunions topics.}

The house I grew up in

The Legacy
©1994 by Susan Noyes Anderson, The Lyric

Old house, you held a family in your womb.
You stood upon the soil with warmth and grace,
a sanctuary and a birthing place,
nurturing life and love in every room.
You watched the hearty agapantha bloom
with every child, secure in your embrace,
providing boundaries bathed in high-beamed space;
your orange-blossomed peace a sweet heirloom.
No last goodbyes will echo through our sleep;
you ‘ll be no long-forgotten, empty shell.
We mined our roots, but found the veins too deep;
in leaving you, we left ourselves as well.
Each broken, earth-bound fiber yours to keep.
Each golden, lonely secret yours to tell.

In the Neighborhood
by Janet S. Wong

We drove past
our old house
today.
The redwood
fence is warped
and gray.
The tree
I planted
grew so tall
it makes
our house look
plain and small.

When we
lived there,
it was the best.
Now it seems
just like
the rest.

{Return to poems for family reunions topics.}

Perfect for a beach family reunion invitation

Until I Saw the Sea
by Lilian Moore

Until I saw the sea
I did not know
that wind
could wrinkle water so.

I never knew
that sun
could splinter a whole sea of blue.

Nor
did I know before
a sea breathes in and out
upon a shore.

The Sea
by Douglas Florian

Footprint eraser.
Shorebird chaser.
Sand replacer.
Earth embracer.

{Return to poems for family reunions topics.}

Humorous look at aging

A Note to My Irreverent Children
©2008 by Susan Noyes Anderson

Count me as old as the mountains.
Count me as old as the trees.
But promise me you won't start counting
rings around my knees!

{Return to poems for family reunions topics.}

A desire to remember childhood

When I Grow Up
by Mary Ann Hoberman

When I grow up, I want to be
A grown-up who remembers me
And what it felt like to be small:
How much I liked to bounce a ball
And pump my swing high in the air
And think of flying everywhere.
How scared I was of doors that creak
Or being it in hide-and-seek
Or if my parents had a fight
Or when I had bad dreams at night.
How much I hated loud machines
And slimy worms and lima beans.
What fun it was to dig a hole,
To make a cake and lick the bowl,
To ride my bike all afternoon,
To plan on going to the moon,
To find an egg inside a nest
And have my best friend like me best.

{Return to poems for family reunions topics.}

A Wish for Happiness

Be Like The Bird
by Victor Hugo

Be like the bird, who
Resting in his flight
On a twig too slight
Feels it bend beneath him,
Yet sings
Knowing he has wings.

What Are Heavy?
by Christina Rossetti

What are heavy? Sea-sand and sorrow;
What are brief? Today and Tomorrow;
What are frail? Spring blossoms and youth;
What are deep? The ocean and truth.

Happy Thought
by Robert Louis Stevenson

The world is so full of a number of things,
I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.

Prayer to Laughter
by John Agard

O Laughter
giver of relaxed mouths

you who rule our belly with tickles
you who come when not called
you who can embarrass us at times

send us stiches in our sides
shake us till the water reaches our eyes
buckle our knees til we cannot stand

we whose faces are grim and shattered
we whose hearts are no longer hearty
O Laughter we beg you

crack us up
crack us up

Lesson From A Sundial
(found on a sundial in German)

Ignore dull days; forget the showers;
Keep count of only shining hours.

{Return to poems for family reunions topics.}

A wish for love, family, joy

(a portion of)
The One Gift I Wish I Could Give to Humankind
by Frankie Muniz

The love of family, the joy of friendship, and ever-lasting peace on earth. After that, I think everybody on the planet should have a Sno-Kone machine. The world would be a much happier place.

{Return to poems for family reunions topics.}

Honor the family name

Your Name
Author Unknown

You got it from your father, it was all he ad to give,
So it’s yours to keep and cherish for as long as you shall live,
It was clean the day he got it, and a worthy name to bear,
When he got it from his father, there was no dishonor there,
So protect and guard it safely, for when all is said and done,
You’ll be proud the name is spotless when you give it to your son.

(unnamed)
by Richard Llewellyn

I saw behind me those who had gone,
and before me those who are to come.
I looked back
and saw my father,
and his father,
and all our fathers,
and in front
to see my son,
and his son,
and the sons upon sons
beyond.

And their eyes were my eyes.

(unnamed)
by James Baldwin

Know from whence
you came
because if you know
from whence you came
There is no limit
to where you can go.

{Return to poems for family reunions topics.}

Parental role (humorous)

The Parent
by Ogden Nash

Children aren’t happy with nothing to ignore,
And that’s what parents were created for.

{Return to poems for family reunions topics.}

Family tree

Grandad’s Tree
by Rowena Sommerville

We’re planting a tree for my Grandad,
we’ve done it to help us recall
the hours he spent in the garden,
and the way that he thought of us all.

We didn’t see Grandad too often,
he lived such a long way away,
and now that he’s gone there are so many things
that I wish I had bothered to say.

But Mom says he knew that we loved him,
and how very much he loved us,
and he wouldn’t have liked big, emotional scenes,
and he wouldn’t have wanted a fuss;

So, we’re planting a tree for my Grandad,
it’s our way of saying Goodbye,
and its roots will reach down to the life-giving earth,
and its branches will stretch to the sky.

{Return to poems for family reunions topics.}

Do you have a favorite family quote, poem or saying that I've missed?

Contributions to Family-Reunion-Success.com are always welcome. So...
hit me with your best stuff! Send me your own original work or favorites that you've heard. Just be sure to include author credit.

Here's some of the poems, quotes and sayings submitted by other site visitors. Which ones are your favorites? (Positive comments and constructive criticism ONLY, please.)