LETTER: Smith’s perspective, attitude laudable
To the editor:
I much enjoyed and caught the genuine sincerity in John L. Smith’s column (“Keeping life’s challenges in perspective makes rough year bearable,” Sunday Review-Journal). Being a slave myself to two very tough causes — poetry and the goodness of a 23-year-old daughter who didn’t want to be memorialized — I could surely empathize with Mr. Smith.
Beyond either of us, it has been a difficult 12 months, with cops shooting and being shot at, doomed airliners and Middle East terror. As an everyman lamenting his trials — and those of beloved Amelia — Mr. Smith succeeds in mirroring our own struggles, but also rejoices in how family and friends carry us through times of trouble.
Perhaps Charles Bukowski, poet of the everyman, got it right when admonishing us to do our best, insisting that “What matters most is how well we walk through the fire.” Moreover, on daughters, hardship and the tough sell of poetry, one may redeem the other.
In my case, my Misty is still alive and shines in the positive poetry of her posthumously published book. When I miss her most, I read her words and rejoice in the freshness and innocence of her young life. She speaks to me from two sides now. Whatever our personal battles, Mr. Smith exhorts us “to fight your good fight” and exult in the victory, but more so, to show gratitude. We owe that to every Amelia and Misty.
LEE MALLORY
LAS VEGAS
