Declaration of Sorrows

By Stan Sanvel Rubin

If acquired during your travel,
indicate the place of origin,

how often you have been there,
and what you still owe.

Describe the intended purpose
and the ones you put it to.

If brought with you when you embarked,
enumerate the cost to you or others,

the reason for taking it,
and why you have carried it so far.

Append a name to each sorrow.
Be careful not to omit anything.

We understand that these answers
will only be approximations.

Please answer thoroughly.
There are severe penalties for incompletion.

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Stan Sanvel Rubin’s work has appeared in numerous magazines including The Georgia
Review, Kenyon Review, Carolina Quarterly, Iowa Review, Florida Review, Poetry
Northwest and others. His fourth full collection, There. Here., was published by Lost Horse
Press in 2013. His third, Hidden Sequel, won the Barrow Street Poetry Book Prize. He
lives on the northern Olympic Peninsula of Washington state.