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.