Regrets

Regrets (1st draft 9/05/23)

I never wrote to Tony Hoagland

about his poems or his essay in The Sun.
Then the pancreatic cancer devoured

what was left of him, but not his words.

I never went to the Coast Guard Academy.

I would be retiring in two years

with a full retirement plan

but what would be left of me?

I spent only a modicum of time 

to look at Maine. I was too busy

tackling, sprinting, leaping, and falling apart.

I never called Ray Dube, Al Freniere, Sharron Sutton,

Mrs. Espisito, Mrs. Munson, or Mrs. Wiseman to say thank you.

I never told Mrs. Rogers that I was sorry.

I went to College to study Theatre and Dance.

I paid over $120,000 to do so.

My family and I teeter on the poverty line.