My poem.

Fortunate for the ego and the id

The mind has an opening, it has a lid

And one can peer into what would seem

The consciousness running as a stream

And there within that scene now browsed

The identity is sitting there all housed.

Within such emporium so vast

Is all the future and all the past,

Knowledge, pain, hope and fear

And growth and change all appear.

Religion is there as well as doubt

And all the things we're concerned about.

And there as well, it should not seem strange,

Are all the seeds of growth and change.

It's true that within our tiny round

Are all the truths of worlds profound.

-Daniel Miller, Chair of Graduate Program at PAFA

ΔΔΔ

As a tradition, Dan Miller writes a poem for each graduating MFA student, to show his gratitude for our participation in the program.  It is a sending off of sorts, a "good luck and good bye" party - kudos - held over lunch during one of the last days of the semester.  Each poem is inspired by each student's thesis, as Dan reads every single one (39, this year) during his daily train commute between Lancaster and Philadelphia.  He came to PAFA in 1955 as a student, and never exactly left.  He is a true renaissance man, and an "elegant man" in the words of Murray Dessner.  The experience of hearing each poem read to each student was moving and inspirational.  I know I speak for all my fellow MFAs that this truly meant the world to us.  This poem will go in a frame, and on the wall of my next studio.

Thank you, Dan from the bottom of my heart.