For Nate

I lost a friend recently — an artist friend and old classmate. A good man. The joy of my fond remembrance and the sadness of his departure continues to weigh heavier than I can account for. I hope he knows I’m thinking of him.

“Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,

I carry them, men and women,

I carry them with me wherever I go,

I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,

I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return”

— Walt Whitman