Free Rainbow Bridge poem
A Rainbow Bridge poem for your pet
Not the same words everyone shares, but a Rainbow Bridge poem about your pet: their name, their little habits, ready to print with their photo.
Looking for the original 1959 poem? Its story is below. This page writes a new one about your pet.
Keep it
A page with their name and poem, to frame, print for a service, or post.
Or send it to your inbox
Did you mean ?
To keep it or forward it to family. The email also links to a song made from your answers, which we keep for 30 days for that. We may write later about the song. Unsubscribe anytime.
What is the Rainbow Bridge?
The Rainbow Bridge is the idea that pets who have died wait in a green meadow at the foot of a bridge. There they are young and well again, they run and play in the sun, and one day their person comes to meet them and they cross together. For many people it is the gentlest way to picture where their pet is now.
It comes from a short prose poem that has been shared for decades, often without a name. In 2023, National Geographic reported that it was written in 1959 by Edna Clyne-Rekhy, as a teenager in Scotland, after her dog Major died. We don’t reprint her poem here. Instead, this page writes a new one, about your pet.
How it works
- 1Tell us their name and one little thing. The poem puts them in that meadow doing exactly that.
- 2Choose rhyming or free verse. Rhyme reads well aloud at a goodbye. Free verse sounds more like you talking to them.
- 3Print it. Download a Rainbow Bridge page with their photo and years, save it as an image to share, or send it to your inbox.
Ways people use a Rainbow Bridge poem
- Framed next to their photo, collar or ashes
- Printed for a goodbye, a burial or the day you scatter their ashes
- Inside a sympathy card, or a card to the vet team who cared for them
- Shared with family and friends to tell them
- Read aloud on the anniversary
Rainbow Bridge poem examples
A rhyming Rainbow Bridge poem for a dog
The Bowl at Six
At six o'clock each evening, Bear,
you brought your bowl to me,
and dropped it right beside my feet,
as loyal as could be.
So gentle and so goofy too,
so loyal in your way,
at six your bowl came to my feet,
you never missed a day.
Now six o'clock comes round again,
no bowl is at my feet.
I listen for that hollow clang
that made our evenings sweet.
By Rainbow Bridge the grass is green,
so run free, buddy, run.
One day I'll see you, Bear, again,
your bowl dropped in the sun.
Written with this tool from three words (gentle, goofy, loyal), one detail (he carried his food bowl to me every evening at six) and the message “Run free, buddy. I will see you again one day.” The short line it gave: “Bear, who brought his bowl to me each evening at six.”
A Rainbow Bridge poem for a cat
Mornings in the Bathroom Sink
Every morning, Mittens,
you sat in the bathroom sink,
your choice and nobody else's.
While I brushed my teeth
you talked to me the whole time
and I answered with a toothbrush in my mouth.
Now I brush my teeth
and the sink is only a sink,
and nobody talks to me the whole time.
I like to think of you at the Rainbow Bridge,
soft and whole in the sun,
picking a spot that is yours alone
and talking to the morning
as if it were listening.
Goodbye, Mittens.
One day, when it is my time,
I will find you there
and stand beside you
the way I did at the sink,
and let you do all the talking.
Free verse, written from three words (independent, chatty, soft) and one detail: she sat in the bathroom sink every morning and talked while I brushed my teeth. The short line it gave: “Mittens, who chose the sink and talked to me every morning”
A Rainbow Bridge poem for a horse
The Barn Door in the Morning
Every morning, Duke,
the barn door gave me away.
Before I could see you
I could hear you nicker,
all that big horse saying,
there you are.
Now I open the barn door
and stand there and listen.
It makes the same sound it always made.
Nothing answers.
I think of you in the green meadow
at the Rainbow Bridge,
whole again, head high in the sun,
waiting the way you always waited,
patient, in no hurry at all.
Thank you for carrying me, Duke.
One day, when it is my time,
you will hear me coming,
and you will nicker,
and this time I will be the one who answers.
Free verse, written from three words (big, patient, proud), one detail (he nickered every morning when he heard the barn door) and the message “Thank you for carrying me.” The short line it gave: “Duke, who said good morning every time the barn door opened”
More free keepsakes
Questions
What is the Rainbow Bridge?
It is the idea that pets who have died wait in a green meadow at the foot of a bridge, healthy and happy again, until the day their person comes to meet them. It comes from a short prose poem that many pet owners find comfort in.
Who wrote the original Rainbow Bridge poem?
For years its author was unknown and several people were credited. In 2023 National Geographic reported that it was written in 1959 by Edna Clyne-Rekhy, as a teenager in Scotland, after her dog Major died. This page does not reprint her poem; it writes a new one about your pet.
Is the Rainbow Bridge poem free to print?
Yes. Your poem is free, and you can download it as a printable page with your pet's name, their photo and their years, or save it as an image to share.
Can I add my pet's name and photo?
Yes. The poem is written around your pet's name and the details you give us, and the printable page can show their photo. The photo stays on your device.
Does it work for a cat, a horse or another pet?
Yes. Choose the kind of animal and the poem uses words that fit. If you choose Other, it leaves species words out.
Should I choose rhyming, free verse or short?
Rhyming poems feel traditional and are easy to read aloud. Free verse sounds more like you talking to them. Short gives you eight lines for a card or a stone. Try more than one; each version is written fresh.
Do you keep what I write?
We do not keep it. What you type is used once to write your poem, and your last poem is kept only in this browser so you can come back to it. If you ask us to email it, we send it to the address you give and keep your answers for 30 days, so the link in that email can open a song already filled in.
Can the poem be turned into a song?
FureverSong writes and records a personal memorial song from your memories of your pet, with a memorial page your family can visit. You hear a preview free before you decide.