Poetry in Your Ethical Will

When I read Julia Kasdorf's poem What I Learned from My Mother (from her book, Sleeping Preacher) in our local newspaper recently, I thought "what a great poem for an ethical will!".

Here's a link to Kasdorf's poem which Ted Kooser, U.S. poet lauerate, included in a recent "American Life In Poetry" column:

What I Learned from My Mother

It inspired me to think about adding a few poems that I've written over the years to my ethical will. That means digging through old journals to find poems that I'd like to include. It could take awhile but may be just what I need to get them "organized" (or, at least see if there are poems I'd like to keep for future reading "when I get old").

Have you included poems you've written in your ethical will? Or some prose writing from earlier in your life? Let me know if you have. And, if you're willing to share what you've written, please e-mail me or add your poems to our blog "comments".