For Eileen

How many poets die, their work unread
How many more their poetry unspoken
Don’t say to me “I cannot put it down”
I will just smile and say “go to it”
All word, all thoughts, every emotion
Must be a measure and a token of your soul
If I can make you see yourself as I see you
As a mirror of myself — one entity
You’ll write that poem
With no help from me.

by Lorna Bain — December 29th, 1985