Papa said ...
“Sentimental
people are cruel”
trading what might be
for what is

Filling their plates
with what’s not
on the menu
longing for soda
without fizz

Papa wrote
distant
always bringing it close
while leaving the weak
to surmise

With feeling
embodied
in hardscrabble words
to challenge but death
— so implied

(Gertrude Stein Remembers: August, 2025)