STAN'S LETTER

 

Stan's letter

weighs on my mind

the world is too full of sorrow

and fathers too full

of forgetfulness

and more than his letter could have hoped

or attempted

to express

but this correspondence falls to me

where far from his son

Stan's new dreams begin

literary criticism

is still already at work

I cannot tell him this

departure from the anarchy of my sphere

will come at a cost

but a cost

    and for a benefit

that benefits no one

but it's too late now

for me to recommend 

to Stan the benefits I have found

in the receding confines of my dream

(still the old dream)

where my sons 

I fervently hope (for such is my plan)

can always find me dreaming