poems for children to read at a civil partnership

joewa

Hi, having a civil partnership ceremony next month and want my niece who is 9 to read a poem at it
Does anyone have any links

Thanks

MandM90

Congratulations on your CP.

Winnie the Pooh and the Velveteen Rabbit spring to mind...

Exerpt From Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne

This is from the story called Us Two

" So wherever I am, there's always Pooh,

There's always Pooh and Me.

"What would I do?" I said to Pooh,

"If it wasn't for you," and Pooh said... "True,

It isn't much fun for One, but Two

Can stick together," says Pooh, says he.

"That's how it is," says Pooh

Extract from
the The Velveteen Rabbit

Margery Williams (1881-1944)

‘What is REAL?’ asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. ‘Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?’ ‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When someone loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, buy REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’
‘Does it hurt? Asked the Rabbit.
‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’
‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’
‘ It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse.
‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’
‘I suppose you are real?’ said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse only smiled.
‘Someone made me Real,’ he said.
‘That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.’

...actually, maybe that's a bit long for a nine year old but maybe she could read one of the parts with her mum/dad? I think it's quite lovely.

MandM90

A quick google came up with a couple more...

Our Family

Author Unknown
Our family is a circle of love and strength.
With every birth and every union, the circle grows.
Every joy shared odds more love.
Every obstacle faced together makes the circle stronger.




The Day

Author Unknown
May this be the start of a happy new life
That’s full of special moments to share
May this be the first of your dreams come true
And of hope that will always be there…
May this be the start of a lifetime of trust
And of caring that’s just now begun…
May today be a day that you’ll always remember
The day when your hearts become one…


The above doesn't have any tricky words and is fairly simple to read.

joewa

Thank you very much

CurlyTop

My niece read The Owl and the !P,,,ycat at her mums wedding (sorry won't allow me to type the word, looks like its hit some firewall!). Was really nice.

DylanO

I'm going to assume you don't want her to read something by Ginsberg? Not unless you want to be there gone midnight and have everyone in a state of confusion anyway.

Do you have any favourite poets?

Shouldn't it be something personal to you both, rather than something suggested on a forum?

bylromarha

My then 5 year old and I read this at his nans wedding a couple of years back. Went down well as he was trained to do a few cheeky looks at his nan and pops as he read certain lines. Colours indicate his and my bits to read.

He never leaves the seat up
Or wet towels upon the floor
The toothpaste has the lid on
And he always shuts the door!

He's very clean and tidy
Though he may sometimes delude
Leave your things out at your peril
In a second they'll have moved!

She romances him and dines him
Home cooked dinners and the like
She even knows his favourite food
And spoils him day and night!

She's thoughtful when he looks at her
A smile upon his face
Will he look that good in 50 years
When his dentures aren't in place?!

He says he loves her figure
And her mental prowess too
But when gravity takes her over
Will she charm with her IQ?


She says she loves his kindness
And his patience is a must
And of course she thinks he's handsome
Which in her eyes is a plus!

They're both not wholly perfect
But who are we to judge
He can be pig headed
Where as she won't even budge!


All that said and done
They love the time they spend together
And I hope as I'm sure you do
That this fine day will last forever.

He'll be more than just her husband
He'll also be her friend
And she'll be more than just his wife
She'll be his soul mate 'till the end.

msb5262

Hi OP,
I read the well known "love is..." extract from Captain Corelli's Mandolin at my friend's wedding and I think this would work fine for a civil partnership although it might need to be read by an adult - at least there are no genders mentioned in it!
HTH
MsB

Moomin21

I don't have a copy of it, but if you google 'a lovely love story' by Edward Monkton it'll point you to a very cute poem about dinosaurs in love! I read it at my friends wedding - but we're both 27:)

rachbc

My son read No Matter What by Debi Gliori at our wedding.

Sambucus_Nigra

msb5262 wrote: »

Hi OP,
I read the well known "love is..." extract from Captain Corelli's Mandolin at my friend's wedding and I think this would work fine for a civil partnership although it might need to be read by an adult - at least there are no genders mentioned in it!
HTH
MsB

I don't understand why civil partnership weddings have to 'not talk about' genders...OP if you aren't into poetry and your OH isn't - then why are you even having a poem read? If it doesn't mean anything to you then please don't do it. Pick some song lyrics, or a passage from a book that means something to both of you. Asking for poems on a forum for something so special is crackers.