Let's make this birthday one to remember.

81 years old (Born on July 21, 1943)

Happy Birthday, Tess Gallagher! Cheers to the poet whose words dance gracefully through "Moon Crossing Bridge," "Instructions to the Double," and many more poetic masterpieces. May your birthday cake be as multilayered and meaningful as your verses (and hopefully free from allegorical ambiguity!).

Your celebrated career includes awards such as the Elliston Award and the Maxine Cushing Gray Foundation Award—proof that you've mastered language far better than most of us ever manage our grocery lists. Here's wishing another fabulous year filled with creativity, laughter, poetic triumphs—and inspiration abundant enough to keep instructing those mischievous literary doubles for years ahead!