We just had our big opening celebration about 6 weeks ago (and believe me, i still find confetti in some discarded pub corners..) and today is the day for another big party here at dVerse Poet’s Pub as we’re celebrating Brian Miller’s birthday.

For those of you, who don’t know him.. Brian is the founder of dVerse and the guy who welcomes each guest with a smile, a handshake and some words of encouragement. Usually you find him behind the bar, pouring drinks, washing glasses and closing down Mr. Linky before he switches off the lights and shuts the pub doors.

But today we won’t allow him to re-fill the fridge or sweep the floor but pour him a glass of sparkling verse….

So here’s the idea…. let’s write a celebration poem together..

We’re gonna do this in the comments section beneath this post by each of us adding some lines.

Later we will unite the verse and then copy the edited poem into the post.

Well..let’s have some fun and did I mention…? Drinks are on us today..

…hours later…

Wow…this is just an awesome collection of verse, love and respect for a very special person..
We decided to make a cut here and edit the poem…but feel free to continue pouring in with your verse..

Kudos to Mark Kerstetter for stitching the lines together with such expertise to the maybe longest birthday poem in the world..

Brian’s Birthday Train Poem

Still dark outside,
a butter-yellow moon hangs in the trees
and something in the cricket’s song
reminds, it’s a special day.

The song holds
notes of love and wonder,
breezes sway, as if to say:
We see you, we know you,
we remember all you do…

August heat bears sweat-drop dew
yet smiles lit by fireflies
blow kisses
for our birthday guy:
wishing a day that’s over the moon,
kickin’ a can or kickin’ back with one,
driving a cool car full out fast
or fishing, no worries just worms in a can,
anything you want to do, you can.

Heart open wide,
flag of kindness unfurled
in words held high, down low or just
being swirled:
go get your mohawk curled
father, husband and poet-man!

Many Happy Returns
WayStationOne.
The stars spell out a message
before darkness slips away,
a special gathering at the pub today,
another passage ‘round the sun,
smiles returned a hundredfold,
words, shared, swell
into poetry.
Wise, sweet, honest
a poem,
flow
flow
birthday boy!
Seen worldwide in boxes

of comments
may you be blessed forever
with kind friends,
strength, peace and
dreams clear and green,
knowing nothing of borders
or distance of different lands, only
the way in Way Station:
to Find
Encourage
Support
Inspire.

On the bar stands a cake,
its candles flicker aglow, each
a gift and one to grow.
We send you love and peace and joy,
a tap of words that ever flow.
We raise our glasses to you,
and as the day lingers on
and words melt into day,
we remember your words
melted in hearts,
watching the moon vanish
only to rise again.

You are a poet,
kind soul,
you dig deftly in the dirt
of human longing
footfall
journeying
down
the daily do
noticing things like
flattened caterpillars
and tossed out
cigarettes
wondering what
lives live behind
the foot and fingers
that made those grainy
pictures just for you.

Be still, mother’s heart
birthing son
Master’s Art.

What other gifts can you give a man
who already has the word-weaving kind
from the heart and the street,
who gives freely to all?
To the guy, able Superman,
jumping comment boxes in one bound?
Who visits more poets in one Tuesday night
than Santa during 24 hours of Christmas?
Cheers, my friend.

Birthday Brian, Buddha to be,
you and the frog sit on the lily pad.
Blowing out candles isn’t a fad.
So come one come all
through the poetry net,
friends though we’ve not met,
enjoy this day and all to come,
and no regrets when all’s said and done.

An apple smiling has no hair
except a twisty stem
and yet, it seems it has a face that
finds a space in every yard, promises seeds
for tomorrow’s fruit
and sweetness
for all the children’s pockets.
Only a few humans give that much
and ask for that little
but we know one and wish him
all the joy he brings to others.

On his birthday
a walking meditation, each step
a path of magnanimity:
fellow sojourners seeking
poetry.
Empathetic witness,
words empowering,
mending minds,
silver streams of words
down dry riverbeds of trauma,
divine love ever flowing.

Leo, your element: Fire.
Your ruling planet: the Sun
Symbol: the Lion
Your stone: Peridot
Life Pursuit: To Lead the Way
Vibration: Radiant Energy
Leo’s Secret Desire: To be a Star

Raise high the roof beam, carpenters!

As the sun on her throne
looks down on the world
in beams and sparks, we send
a birthday wish straight from the heart
and raise another glass to you.

The lion’s eye is the peridot
reflecting light of the sun,
warmth for poets emerging and young.
The lion leads the way
through the fire of critical words
bestowing radiant energy giving confidence.
To be a star at dVerse
the head poet at the pub, take a shot
behind the bar and mark the rhythms well.

Bees, blue bells, willows, pixies –
stand on eavesdrops, savoring tales,
luscious voices, wayward verses
paving a new way.
There awaits a Kingdom fresh,
Smiles, spheres, scenes (spunky too)
come to light,
diversely poetic, not wrong or right.

How fortunate our paths have met,
with kind words to brighten days.
May your train run on happy content,
delivering poems always.