I’ve been given credit

from this week in August, 2010  (I was 65)

I’ve been given credit

for the memory of joy

I gave to someone’s son

in a classroom thirty years ago

At one time there must have been

something actual and tangible

that was the object of that joy

I don’t know what it was

and neither does the boy

It has the same value

as a misremembered dream

I’ve helped my kids be miserable

by talking about a world and life

I could never deliver

I promised we would make it better

I said their efforts would be rewarded

that they would see justice grow from goodness

that co-operation would replace competition

that radiant beauty would be recognized as truth

Though I myself had known none of that

and should have said so long ago