Dear Mister Lincoln,
Yes, today we know your name!
We wish you were here!
On Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, I try to respond to the poem, Nancy Hanks by Rosemary Benét (wife of Stephen Vincent Benét).
If Nancy Hanks
Came back as a ghost,
Seeking news
Of what she loved most,
She’d ask first
“Where’s my son?
What’s happened to Abe?
What’s he done?”
“You wouldn’t know
About my son?
Did he grow tall?
Did he have fun?
Did he learn to read?
Did he get to town?
Do you know his name?
Did he get on?”
Maybe a more appropriate haiku would have been,
Dear Nancy Lincoln,
Today, yes, we know his name.
We wish he was here!
mjh
No Haiku For You 