Across the world, 
across the sea,
across years and life 
experiences,
I hear the same 
raspy voice, 
and Kentucky dialect 
that several decades 
in Japan could not undo.
It is as though 
we have been in a long 
conversation, a forty year poem
of sorts, that periodically 
goes through the editing 
process for a time, 
only to be revised with 
the familiarity of old friends. 

KW 6/6/23