THE MUSE
You owe me. Pay up. According to my accounts, you have...

CASUAL FRIEND
Send lies to the people listed below....

THE AWARDS COMMITTEE
This is to notify you that--but what's the use?...

THE WISE
The world could fall to pieces with no notice....

UNCLE AL
A chicken is a touchy creature....

THE OTHERS
Here where we live the lines are down and the surprises build into snowbanks...

DANNY
Dusty Clinton Township kids making paper roosters and snowball...

SAMUEL RENSBERGER
I am your grandfather's grandfather and through my wakeless sleep I dream...

OLD NEIGHBOR
East across low muddy fields and behind the screening trees you can see...

THE WORM COUNCIL
We call your attention to worms. Though sweeping ice age disaster...

THE HERON
I flew in down by the round deep pond behind your house...

WITNESS
I saw the largest moon ever rise huge bright yellow, sailing where it cared to...

Dear Eric,

Pick up your socks. Clean the house once in a while. Go to the 
dentist. Start being more sensible about money. If you're going 
to read, make sure it's a book that amounts to something.
	
In general, you mistake lethargy for stability. Your strong 
reaction to discipline is a remarkable point of view. It has 
inevitable and regrettable consequences. A restless mind is not 
necessarily an energetic one.
	
"Today's poetry is a fight for breath." Remember that? Then what 
have you done with the knowledge? There are no easy ways. 
Sentimentality will not do in the place of emotion. Confusion 
is not profundity.
	
Reform your heart. Withdrawal is not the same as solitude. A 
secret held from all others is a stone in the gut. Oysters 
make pearls of such irritants, humans do not. How can there be 
pleasure in isolation?
	
Do you ever vacuum?

A Critic