"Potential" (for Sylvia Plath)

I have thought a great deal

and ultimately - surely -

it's not about

the potential poems

that you might have written -



any more than the additional

brothers and sisters

whom your son and daughter

might have known -

or your potential future lovers,

husband...



It occurs to me

how many times

the latest poem

could have been the last -



and so I must treat

each precious poetic

gemstone

with additional

respect, awe,

reverence -

openness and gratitude -

feel the passion,

and often anguish,

behind each word,

feel amazed by

the precision

and purity

of your language.