This seems to be a popular concept here at WORD! Keep your birthday poems coming! Here's one from a student who managed to incorporate a monkey into her writing! Yay Birthday Monkey poems!

Turning Twelve
-by Emma, 11

The whole idea of it makes me feel
like Christmas came early this year.
Like a monkey in a
forest of banana trees.
Like a young child playing in a cool stream
on a hot summer's day.
Turning twelve.
Oh, how I wish it would come sooner!
"You may babysit when you are twelve", my parents say.
I have been eleven for years-an eternity-
or so it seems.
Turning twelve.
The thought of it makes me want to do a a little
dance in place,
or squeal like I do at Christmas, when I open my first present.
Turning twelve.
This is the beginning of
being treated like a teenager,
not a child,
of staying home alone,
of babysitting,
of walking home from school,
of being responsible,
of growing up.
Turning twelve.
How long it takes, but I know it will come.
Someday...
Turning twelve.