Questions in a Letter

 

A note from the post office

Sits in front of me.

Stamped in red,

Scribbled with a bit of black,

The edges highlighted with yellow

That now looks more green.

Like the color of feces when you’re sick.

 

An old paperback

I pulled off the shelf by chance.

In the back, there’s a message

I always forget about

Until I see it again.

Mike, Please don’t die

I’m not being mean.

Maybe you weren’t dear,

But that would have been

The only time.

 

The novice approaches the master,

And begs for an approving nod.

The sensei speaks

Through the cobwebs in his throat.

“Kid, don’t be like me-- 

Don’t let others drive the car

When you’re the one

Paying for the gas.”

So the child leaves

To overcome his father.

The elder mutters curses

Just loud enough to hear.

 

To be buried in the sands of Troy

The thousandth man

On the thousandth ship.

An arrow from someone

Equally nameless

Pierces through the one chink

The tragedy of not what is lost,

But what could have been.