My Wish

My wish for you…

     …my Children

     …my grandchildren

I can only lament that I did not find the desire to write in my youth.  I did not find the desire for poetry.  I did not see the world I grew up in.  I did not see the world I helped to make.  I, only now at the age of seventy-two, am beginning to wake up.

 

I shall be dead before I become fully awake. The loss to me and those I influence is immeasurable.  Would my children…my grandchildren begin to awaken with some influence from me?

I dare hope

.

I dare hope for my children…my grandchildren and their children and grandchildren.

 

I shall strive to influence you to write, 

                      to read and then write,

                      to watch and then write,

                      and to do and then write. 

I shall strive to influence you to write and therefore be. 

I shall strive to influence you to awaken before you die.

I dare to quote for you Walt Whitman…

“…have you practiced so long as to learn to read?
Have you felt so proud to get the meaning of poems?
Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems.
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun…there are millions of suns left.
You shall no longer take things as second or third hand…nor look through the eyes of the dead…nor feed on the specters in books.

You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me.

You shall listen to all sides and filter them for yourself.”…

 I dare to add…

Write…

             …what and who you are now

             …what and who you want to be

             …what you think

             …try your mind with poetry, your poetry

Then…

Your body, your soul…you

                                              …shall awaken and see

                                              …shall awaken and be

                                              …shall awaken and truly live

Do not stop after…

       …one word

 …one sentence

       …one paragraph

 …one page

 …one chapter

 …one book

 …one poem

Do not ever stop.

Tell the world what you are…but most of all…

                                                        …tell yourself what you are

These things I wish for you…

                                                                                                    Your dad…your papa