Nothing is more important than the family that surrounds us. Family can mean so many things to so many people. Life begins and ends with family, although our roads and paths in life may take us separate places, we are always together in our hearts. These inspirational family poems may cause you to reflect and reminisce on your own family, of bittersweet days gone by and those that are still ahead.

#1

A Home Song

~ Henry van Dyke

I read within a poet's book

A word that started the page:

"Stone walls do not a prison make,

Nor iron bars a cage!"

Yes, that is true; and something more

You'll find, where'er you roam,

That marble floors and gilded walls

Can never make a home.

But, every house where Love abides,

And Friendship is a guest,

Is surely home, and home-sweet-home:

For there the heart can rest.

#2

Going Home for Christmas

~ Edgar Guest

He little knew the sorrow that was in his vacant chair,

He never guessed they'd miss him, or he'd surely have been there;

He couldn't see his mother or the lump that filled her throat,

Or the tears that started falling as she read his hasty note;

And he couldn't see his father, sitting sorrowful and dumb,

Or he never would have written that he thought he couldn't come.

He little knew the gladness that his presence would have made,

And the joy it would have given, or he never would have stayed.

He didn't know how hungry had the little mother grown

Once again to see her baby and to claim him for her own.

He didn't guess the meaning of his visit Christmas Day

Or he never would have written that he couldn't get away.

He couldn't see the fading of the cheeks that once were pink,

And the silver in the tresses; and he didn't stop to think

How the years are passing swiftly, and next Christmas it might be

There would be no home to visit and no mother dear to see.

He didn't think about it - I'll not say he didn't care.

He was heedless and forgetful or he'd surely have been there.

Are you going home for Christmas? Have you written you'll be there?

Going home to kiss the mother and to show her that you care?

Going home to greet the father in a way to make him glad?

If you're not I hope there'll never come a time you'll wish you had.

Just sit down and write a letter - it will make their heart strings hum

With a tune of perfect gladness - if you'll tell them that you'll come.

#3

A Thought

~ Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses

It is very nice to think

The world is full of meat and drink,

With little children saying grace

In every Christian kind of place.

#4

Family

~ Sean Kelley

Always there

Fun-loving people

Christians who love God

Friends

#5

Matthew 20:20-21

~ The Rhyming Gospels, a poetic paraphrase of Holy Scripture,

by Bernard Williams

Then the mother of James and John

Came forward at their bequest,

She knelt down before Jesus

To make known her request.

Jesus looked down upon her,

Asked, "What is your desire?"

She said, "To serve in your kingdom

My two sons do aspire."

"Command one to stand at your right,

For both I want the best,

The other put at your left hand,

This, then is my request."

#6

Whole Duty of Children

~ Robert Louis Stevenson,

A child should always say what's true

And speak when he is spoken to,

And behave mannerly at table;

At least as far as he is able.

#7

Our House

~ Edgar Guest

We play at our house and have all sorts of fun,

An' there's always a game when supper is done;

An' at our house there's marks on the walls an' the stairs,

An' some terrible scratches on some of the chairs;

An' ma says that our house is surely a fright,

But pa and I say that our house is all right.

At our house we laugh an' we sing an' we shout,

An' whirl all the chairs and the tables about,

An' I rassle my pa an' I get him down too,

An' he's all out of breath when the fightin' is through;

Am' ma says our house is surely a sight,

But pa an' I say that our house is all right.

I've been to houses with pa where I had

To sit in a chair like a good little lad,

An' there wasn't a mark on the walls an' the chairs,

An' the stuff that we have couldn't come up to theirs;

An' pa said to ma that for all of their joy

He wouldn't change places and give up his boy.

They never have races nor rassles nor fights.

Coz they have no children to play with at nights;

An' their walls are all clean and their curtains hang straight,

An' everthing's shiny an' right up to date;

But pa says with all of its racket an' fuss,

He'd rather by far live at our house with us.

#8

Grandparents

~ Scott Kelley

Who is like a grandma? I would like to know. A face filled with a smile. A head crowned with snow.

Her words are always kind, no matter what you do. And she always wants to help, as long as your heart is true.

Now, grandpa is a different breed. His bark is worse than his bite. If you ever catch him without his teeth, he's really a funny sight!

But teeth don't have anything to do with being very bright. Between the two you have quite a blend of humor, patience, and wisdom no end.

Written by :

Kristin De Love

 

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