My Father

My father told me to write
poems -- each word
necessary, dense with
meaning. To say
so much in a little space, he said,
was the point. But how
can I press what I feel
about him? He told me this
definition of poetry when I was
twelve and had written
only one short poem about salt.
Now I am twenty seven and have written
over two hundred poems about
love, sleep, and the myths of the secret
father, who said

but only my teacher can

you are not my teacher

you went away

no words

Jessy Randall

If you've any comments on her poems, Jessy Randall would be pleased to hear from you.