— Writ for Carl’s 100th Birthday
Measure for sanity,
Good sense and urbanity,
For pace of the words
Makes the world observed
Become at last real,
So one knows how it feels.
It matters that all
Get counted in, told how
To get to the show
And shown where to go,
I felt it was you
Cared for all, not the few.
If there’s justice on earth —
If there’s poetry in heart,
It’s that amiable art
Shows what it’s worth
To live as you have,
To do what you do.
_____________________
This poem was sent as part of a note to be read at Carl Rakosi’s 100th birthday celebration in San Francisco in November 2003. It was read by Steve Dickinson, since Robert Creeley could not be there.
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