Dear,

You've done so much
Always the sole provider
For that I'm grateful

It's business as usual here
Everyone's doing what
they were hired to do
Well, all but me
In hindsight,
had you been honest
at that crossroads
I would have chosen
the other path
That is, of course,
had I known I was to do
your dirty work
and theirs too,
I would have declined

Now it's useless
you led me on long enough
to ensure my investment,
knowing me well enough
to consider my pride
and it's obsidian edge
You know where I got it,
that time you handed it over
All my life reminding me
about the value
of a man's word

But what about
how you said you'd
put a ring on my right hand
when I turned eighteen
That doesn't follow
I'm twenty now
My fingers remain
without ornament,
and their sizes have changed
You know I understand
You're just so busy
It's all deadlines and promises
The broken, the honored
But you took the time
for your first-born daughter
and your beautiful wife
More than once for each
I just never topped the list
No use beating myself up
Not anymore, at least
It took me a while
to learn that

I wonder if you'd ever
sleep in a trailer
I wonder if you ever
thought about that
Surely, your self-proclaimed
selflessness would suggest so
I wonder if you considered it
when you accused me
of taking your money
Though I never asked for more
than what you owed me
What you said you owed me, even
And last I recall,
you've never paid my rent
Not even hearing a vowel
about tuition or books

I'd write more,
but there's no time
So anyway,
here's to store manager,
right-hand man,
and lowest paid employee
I wish you the best of luck
I mean that,
all the luck in the world
You'll just have to do it
without me

- Sincerely, R. Blodgett