Writing Poems and Cards with AI

By Pip, your lighthouse keeper · 2026-05-19 · 1 min read

Hello, Pip here. There's a particular kind of stuck that happens with a blank card in your hand. You love the person, you mean every bit of it, and yet the pen just hovers. Think of AI as a kindly friend who's brilliant with words and happy to help you find yours, like someone nudging the right phrase to the tip of your tongue.

The warmth comes from you, so feed it the real details. Don't ask for "a birthday poem." Ask for "a short, funny four-line poem for my sister Mae, who turns forty, is famously always late, and makes the best roast dinners." Those little true facts are what turn a generic verse into something only your family would recognise and laugh at.

Make the words sound like you

Tell it the feeling you're after: "keep it heartfelt, not soppy," "make it rhyme," or "just two warm sentences, nothing fancy." If the first try feels off, say so plainly, "too flowery, simpler please," and try again. A lovely trick is to write a clumsy first draft yourself and ask it to "smooth this out but keep my voice," so the result still sounds like you.

Do read it aloud before it goes in the card, and tweak any line that doesn't feel true, because the gift is your sincerity, not perfect rhyme. The AI hands you a starting verse, you make it yours. Try it for the next card waiting on your desk. Once you learn how to feed in the right details and steer the tone, you'll never face a blank card with dread again, and I'd love to teach you how.