The Rainbow Bridge: who wrote it, what it means, and six new poems
The Rainbow Bridge is a picture of a place where a pet waits after it dies: a green meadow before a bridge, where old animals are young again and sick ones are well, until the day their person comes and they cross together. When someone says a pet has crossed the Rainbow Bridge, they mean it has died.
Who wrote it
The original is a short piece of prose in English. Edna Clyne-Rekhy wrote it in Scotland in 1959, aged 19, the day after her Labrador, Major, died. She typed copies for friends without her name on them, so the text travelled from person to person, was translated, and for decades was printed as anonymous.
In 1994 the American advice column Dear Abby printed it with the author given as unknown. In 2023 the art historian Paul Koudounaris identified her as the author, with her handwritten manuscript, and National Geographic reported it that February.
Because the words are hers, we do not reprint them here.
Why it comforts
It says three things people want to hear after a loss: the animal is no longer in pain, it is not alone, and the goodbye is not for ever. You do not have to believe it literally for it to help. It gives words to something that is hard to put into words.
Six new poems
We wrote these poems for this page. They are not about the bridge but about what stays: the habits. Use them on a card, with an urn, in a notice or in a book. Put the name in, or change a line so it fits.
At the gate
They say there is a meadow
on the other side,
where the grass is never wet
and the bowl is always full.
I don't know if that is true.
I know you wouldn't stay lying in it.
You would sit by the gate,
head tilted, ears up,
the way you did every evening
when my bike turned into the street.
Stay there, then.
I can see you.
I'm on my way.
The patch of sun (for a cat)
The patch of sun
still moves across the floor,
from the rug to the sofa,
from the sofa to the windowsill.
No one follows it now.
I leave the curtain open,
just in case.
What stays
Your bed is still in the corner.
Your bowl is still by the door.
It doesn't get easier to see,
and it doesn't have to.
You were here.
That stays.
Short, for a card
Such small steps,
such a big place.
Thank you
for being ours.
Hay (for a rabbit, guinea pig or other small pet)
You weighed almost nothing.
Still the house is quieter now
than it ever was
before you came.
Every morning
I still hear hay rustle
that isn't there.
The box (for a cat)
A cat rarely waits where it is told to, so this one keeps the cat's own habits instead of the meadow.
They say you are waiting
in a green field by a bridge.
I doubt it.
You never waited anywhere
you were told to.
More likely you found a box
someone left on the far side,
and climbed in,
and decided the bridge could wait.
Keep it.
When I come,
I'll sit down next to it
the way I always did,
and wait to be allowed near.
Short lines for a cat's card
Put the cat's name in.
- For [name], who owned every box in the house.
- The windowsill is empty. We still look.
- [Name] chose us. We were lucky.
- Sleep warm, [name].
A poem about your own pet
Type the name and up to three things your pet did, and a short poem is written from them, free.
Writing your own
- Start with one habit: where she slept, what he stole, how she greeted you.
- Write what is different now: the empty spot, the sound that is gone.
- End with one sentence to your pet, the way you always talked to them.
- It does not have to rhyme. Short lines fit a card best.
A book about what they did
A poem holds one moment. A book holds the habits. bookofmypet.com makes a 28-page book about your pet from your answers to eight short questions and your photos, in the past tense if they have died. A short poem can go on a page of its own.
Sixteen years of leaves in a row on the doormat, boxes claimed before they were empty, a chair nobody else sat in again. The top shelf is still where the eye goes first when the doorbell rings. Rufus still sleeps in the same spot by the window, alone now.
Luna25
Luna, 2009–2025. Every box, always.
Luna26
Someone else lost a pet?
What to say or write to them, and what to leave out, is on its own page.
A book about your pet
Questions
Who wrote the Rainbow Bridge poem?
Edna Clyne-Rekhy, in Scotland in 1959, after her Labrador Major died. It circulated for decades without her name. Her authorship was established in 2023.
What does “crossed the Rainbow Bridge” mean?
That a pet has died. The phrase comes from the Rainbow Bridge text, in which pets wait in a meadow before the bridge until their person comes.
Is the Rainbow Bridge only for dogs?
No. The picture is used for every kind of pet: dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, birds.
Is there a Rainbow Bridge poem for a cat?
This page has two poems written for a cat, “The patch of sun” and “The box”, and short lines for a cat's card.
Can I use these poems?
Yes: on a card, in a notice, with an urn, on social media or in your own book. You may change names and lines. Please do not sell them.
Can I put a poem in a memorial book?
Yes. In the book, change the words of a page and put the poem in.
When a friend lost a pet
Give them a book about the animal, in memory. They make it themselves when they are ready, within 3 years.
Give the giftGift €34.99. The eBook and the hardcover, shipping included. Or the eBook alone for €6.99. The recipient makes the book themselves. Valid 3 years.