The Short Rainbow Bridge

Sometimes the full poem is too much. Either too long for the card you're writing, or too much for the moment you're in. A few lines is enough.

This page has a short version, and a note on when to use it.

We won't try to “shorten” Edna Clyne-Rekhy's actual poem — that's not ours to edit. What we can offer is a few lines that capture the same feeling, written in plain language, that fits on a sympathy card or a social media post.

You can use these lines as they are, or as a starting point.

Just on the near side of heaven, there's a meadow.

Our pets are there. They are well again. They are warm.

They are waiting, and one day, we will see them again.

Until then, the love does not stop.

That's it. Four lines. About 30 words.

The short version is useful in three situations:

On a sympathy card to someone whose pet just died. Hand-written, under their pet's name. Don't add anything else. The lines are doing the work.

On a social media caption when you post about your pet. Pet's name, dates, a photo, and these four lines. Anything more turns it into a eulogy when most readers just want to know what happened and feel quiet for a minute.

On a small physical printed memorial. A framed photo, a card next to a candle, an engraving on a small stone. Anywhere the space is limited and the words need to do their job in one breath.

The full poem is better when:

You are writing for yourself, not someone else. The longer version gives you somewhere to sit with the grief.

You are reading it aloud at a small family farewell. The four-line version moves too quickly for a moment that needs to take its time.

The reader is in deep grief and the short version feels like it skims past their pain. Some people need the full meadow. Some people need just the doorway.

The full Rainbow Bridge page has the longer version in our paraphrase, plus the story of who wrote it.

You can use these four lines anywhere. We don't claim them as our own — they're a paraphrase of what Edna Clyne-Rekhy wrote in 1959.

If you'd like a simple memorial card with your pet's photo, name, and these lines, you can make one in about a minute. Free, no pressure.

If you'd like to send a sympathy card to someone whose pet just died, with these lines printed on it — that page is coming soon. For now, you can write the four lines by hand on any card. Hand-written is better anyway.