The card

[Philatone]

hello Lynda! welcome to the boards!

"The card that I was never given.
And never did I read,
beloved words on cardboard paper written. ...these opening lines strike me as incomplete; i think it's the missing verb. what does this card do you to you? what is its importance?
Merely an empty shelf instead ...the "instead" felt like exess. in general, I wasn't a fan of the inverted syntax in the first three lines.

A gesture that was never sent to my address....like the idea of sending a gesture
And never did my fingertips caress
plasticized paper that shows an amusing "get well soon" — cartoon. ...the "that shows an amusing" felt a bit wordy to me, especially for the tone of the poem and length of the other lines

The way that people can express
that on recovery they truly wish you all the loving success....not sure if this stanza adds much; if you want to keep it, I think it is currently a bit too direct. the second line leaves too little to the imagination to leave an impression

And though I never was sent, ...again, an active verb, where you do the action rather than receive it, would strengthen this for me
a silly stupid present.

I wrote me a letter, to make me feel better.
Those beloved words written to myself,...could chop the "written to myself" (you state it in the first line). maybe this line could be combined with the next (Those beloved words/ finally filling my empty shelf)
to finally fill my empty shelf."

a pleasant read, but some tightening could make it stronger. thanks for sharing!