Examples & Testimonials
Below are short excerpts from a few pieces, shared (with permission) from happy clients. There are many, many more!
"When I first requested a poem I wasn't sure what to expect, but I loved the concept. Working with Tessa was ridiculously easy. She asks great questions that really got to the heart of my daughter (the person I wanted the poem for). When I finally read the poem, I cried. It was perfect" Jourdan W, Washington D.C.
"It really captured me, or at least the idealized version of me I'd like to hope I can be on my best days!"
Ev C, Fairfax VA
Happiest Birthday to Stella the Starling
Sweetest of owl-girls, solemn and darling
Lovely and lanky and quirky and tall
First-est to walk and the fastest to crawl...
*excerpt* Birthday for a child, Washington, D.C. 2015
The shadows are shifting, it’s late afternoon
You’re happily reading a book
I’m lazily watching the daffodils bloom
And guarding my personal cook
Dinnertimes probably hours away
The chipmunks have all wandered home
So with your indulgence, and no more delay
I give you this brief birthday poem
Ev, for a human, your terribly smart
A reader rapacious and rapt
A lover of baseball, piano, and art
And not at all stingy with snacks
As loyal a friend as there ever was found
(And, hey, I’m a dog, I can spot ‘em)
The kindest -and calmest- of humans around
A scholar and gent top to bottom
A man of discernment and excellent taste
My amber eyes never alarmed you
I’ve found a companion who’s perfectly paced
I’m ever so glad that I charmed you
Though practically perfect (there’s no use complaining,
I’m really not one to kvetch)
In spite of the hours I’ve spent on your training
I simply can’t teach you to fetch
It’s your singular flaw and it’s easy to pardon
On one of our news finding strolls
Leisurely wending our way through the garden
A boy and his dog on patrol
I’m not really sure what it is that you do
But to you I’m forever beholden
Now put on your hat and let’s go get the news
A big birthday hug, from you Golden
Greetings from a pet, Fairfax, VA 2020
Mira moves to music in the most amazing way
Tiny fingers start to tap, her shoulders start to sway
She shakes her little mane as if to prime each amber curl
And she is off- our dancing queen- our wild, wondrous girl.
Mira moves to music like a magic, manic elf
Exuberance exudes from every corner of her self
Every piece- from tongue to tush to tootsies- is engaged
Her whirling hips are hip enough to fill a Broadway stage
Mira’s moves make magic any place she hears the beat
She kicks it in our kitchen and she shakes it in the street
She’s boogied on the beaches and in basements and on bikes
She’ll dance her dance in any room in any way she likes
Mira, may your moxie and your moves enthusiastic
Galvanize the rest of us to trip a light fantastic
May all our frolics be as fierce, our capers be as wild
May all of us hear music like our free and wondrous child
Poem for a child, Chevy Chase, MD 2020
Emma and Mira and James and James, shining with fervor and fun
Better together, whatever the weather, growing like weeds in the sun
Emma and Mira and James and James, relishing rainbows and prisms
Praisers of pretzels , savants of the of snack , maestros of rhymes and of rhythms
Daring and dauntless in spite of the rain, rarely distressed or befuddled
Emma and Mira and James and James -- Knights in pursuit of a puddle
Emma Academy’s students are kind, mastering “thank yous” and “pleases”
Keeping their distance and masks and persistence will help keep them safe from the sneezes
Burgeoning botanists, searchers of science are Jameses and Mira and Emma,
Poking at pumpkins and questing for ants, scouting for wings or antenna
At Lafayette park with the wind in their curls, swift as the speediest grey hound
Here come the Emma Academy Squirrels, ready to conquer the playground
Watchers of wildlife, lovers of lights, doyens of diggers and trucks
Combing the streets of the upper Northwest, armed with ebullience and pluck
The world is uncertain, the news can be grim, each little choice a dilemma
But sparkling bright in this darkest of scenes are Mira and Jameses and Emma
The families of Mira and James and James- we think you’re the best in the world
THANK YOU TO EMMA for teaching,
protecting,
and loving
our 3 little squirrels
Poem for a teacher, Washington, D.C. 2020
It's a poem for a princess with the prowess of a swan
With a voice that rings for miles, and the pirouettes gone wrong
It's a poem from a pauper, but it's all I have to offer
For my lovely lady Lucy on this rainy birthday dawn
*excerpt* Poem for a friend, Pittsburgh, PA 2014