a letter came from Ukraine
tailing the newspapers' grey accounts
faster than the cloud of fallout
there were three smudges
from a child's digits, between the stamp
and my address
prints of proof you were there,
eating the Hershey’s I sent, though
your mother scrawled my name
and safe, numbered place I live,
a planet away
the letter yet sits
on my desk, quiet, perhaps
waiting to be opened
I planned to surprise you
in your sluggish summer, with a visit,
and American Girl dolls
but April lasted forever
for you, who happened to be walking
close to the melting kiln, looking
for spring’s first buds
on a Saturday morn
Oct 16, 2015
Oct 16, 2015 at 9:02 PM UTC
a letter came from Ukraine
tailing the newspapers' grey accounts
faster than the cloud of fallout
there were three smudges
from a child's digits, between the stamp
and my address
prints of proof you were there,
eating the Hershey’s I sent, though
your mother scrawled my name
and safe, numbered place I live,
a planet away
the letter yet sits
on my desk, quiet, perhaps
waiting to be opened
I planned to surprise you
in your sluggish summer, with a visit,
and American Girl dolls
but April lasted forever
for you, who happened to be walking
close to the melting kiln, looking
for spring’s first buds
on a Saturday morn
Request permission to use this poem