The following poem makes it sound as if the three letters from my father were of similar value to his broken coffee cup. However, I realize how blessed I am to have letters written to me when my dad was apparently sober. Many of us in recovery have broken relationships with family who have died and nothing of the person to treasure.
What’s Left
Three letters my dad wrote me
from the Walker Gordon Dairy,
“I won the spelling bee when I was ten.
Spelled raspberry and won.”
“Tell that old battle axe of a mother
of yours I miss her.”
a cracked coffee cup --
the one he stored for safety
on the sill above his bunkhouse bed.
Connection to Recovery:
Despite his alcoholism, my dad wrote to me in college. He was thinking of me, proud of me. He was more than his disease, as we all are. My father had a way with words. He wanted to be a writer. Through recovery, I can live that unfulfilled promise for him.
1. Do a free-write about what you have left from an important person who died. Write about concrete objects, such as dishes, furniture, or photographs. You can let these items stand as symbols for other things, but in your free-write, just try to imagine things. If you have none, make them up.
2. Then write a poem about one of those items, describing it with as much particularity as you can.
3. Imagine a letter from a caretaker from your childhood who has died. Do a free write about what it would say.
