Dear Ruth
for R. B.
I am thinking of you upon the passing of your Leif.
As I write these words, I recall your instruction:
never euphemize death. So let me start over.
Dear Ruth, I am thinking of you upon Leif’s death.
I am also thinking of the pronunciation of Leif’s
name and of its irony. I am thinking I’m certain
that you, too, have considered this irony and won’t
hold it against me – the way my thoughts about you
and your wondering What now? turned immediately,
simultaneously, to poetry and how you are teaching
me to write it. I am sorry Leif is dead. I am also sorry
that I await the poems his death will inspire in you.
Danny Earl Simmons lives in Lebanon, Oregon. His poems have appeared in a variety of journals such as The Pedestal Magazine, The Main Street Rag, Chiron Review, IthacaLit, and San Pedro River Review. He is the author of a poetry chapbook entitled “The Allness of Everything” (Maverick Duck Press).
–Art by Piotr Kaczmarek
