Autumn Letters
by Michael Alcee
After Laure-Anne Bosselaar
Son, I raked your name in leaves
for the fallen are still beautiful
and we all need a cairn,
for our letters are so delicate.
For the fallen are still beautiful
and the writing is so hard,
for our letters are so delicate,
you sometimes draw them backwards.
And the writing is so hard.
Father, the letters go unread,
I sometimes draw them backwards,
find comfort in the heart’s hieroglyph.
Father, the letters go unread.
Some days I forget I have your name,
find comfort in the heart’s hieroglyph,
hope spring will bring us home.
Some days, I forget I have your name,
and we all need a cairn.
Hope spring will bring us home.
I made your name in leaves.
Son, I raked your name in leaves
for the fallen are still beautiful
and we all need a cairn,
for our letters are so delicate.
For the fallen are still beautiful
and the writing is so hard,
for our letters are so delicate,
you sometimes draw them backwards.
And the writing is so hard.
Father, the letters go unread,
I sometimes draw them backwards,
find comfort in the heart’s hieroglyph.
Father, the letters go unread.
Some days I forget I have your name,
find comfort in the heart’s hieroglyph,
hope spring will bring us home.
Some days, I forget I have your name,
and we all need a cairn.
Hope spring will bring us home.
I made your name in leaves.
Michael Alcee's work has appeared in Psychoanalytic Perspectives and will be forthcoming in Tarry. In addition to being a poet, he is a psychologist and author of Therapeutic Improvisation (Norton, 2022) and The Upside of OCD (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024).