One More Message

In a virtual reality
  I found my father online

Though he died before the internet
  a man of his time

So how is this possible
  that an email appears?

From a website immortal
  in cyberspace near

I knew it was him
  with each line that I read

I knew it was him
  from what he left unsaid

In trying to print
  my screen crashed in error

“No document found,
   the message interred”

Was I just imagining
  or losing my mind?

His words never clearer
  for me to then find

I’ve thought of him often
  as I’ve struggled and fought

And carried inside me
  those lessons he taught

With every search engine
  I’ve looked and I’ve prayed

For just one more message
  —to rebalance my days

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2018)