Billy Collins Quote

Thank-You NotesUnder the vigilant eye of my motherI had to demonstrate my best penmanshipBy thanking Uncle Gerry for the toy soldiers–Little red members of the Coldstream Guards–And thanking Aunt Helen for the pistol and holster,But now I am writing other notes Alone at a small cherry deskwith a breeze coming in an open window,thanking everyone I happen to seeon my long walk to the post office todayand anyone who ever gave me directionsor placed a hand on my shoulder,or cut my hair or fixed my car.And while I am at it,thanks to everyone who happened to dieon the same day that I was born.Thank you for stepping aside to make room for me,for giving up you seat,getting out of the way, to be blunt.I waited until midnighton that day in March before I appeared,all slimy and squinting, in order to leave timefor enough of the living to drive off a bridge or collapse in a hallwayso that I could enter without causing a stir.So I am writing now to thank everyonewho drifted off that daylike smoke from a row of blown-out candles–for giving up your only flame.One day, I will follow your exampleand step politely out of the pathof an oncoming infant, but not right nowwith the subtropical sun warming this pageand the wind stirring the fronds of the palmettos,and me about to begin another noteon my very best stationaryto the ones who are making room todayfor the daily host of babies,descending like bees with their wings and stingers,ready to get busy with all their earthly joys and tasks.