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Dear Norman- I didn't lose confidence in myself as a creative man, but I did begin to believe that no one else would believe that what I was writing was of any value- + life became so difficult the only objective became that of mere physical survival. Norman Dec 8, 1969

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Think that despite being fatigued and weighed down by your responsibility in terms of the children, there has been a period when you lost confidence in yourself as a creative man. Now you are seeing that this has never really been true but only that you have let your muscles slacken a little. If for no better reason think that you are writing some as least of these poems for me. It would give me enormous satisfaction to see you reassert yourself as a writer. I know it would do the same for both of your children.

P.S. I hate to disillusion you, but the poems that are now beginning to be published are formerly unpublished poems written 1954-55, poems that were rejected by almost every publication in the country. Henry Rags, editor of Poetry (Chicago), however, did publish two of the poems written at that time- "unclear Intelligence by Radar" + "Lament"- the latter being about my first wife and my first daughter Jocelyn (Joy) Macleod (Harris). They appeared in Poetry for December 1957. I have a one track mind- when I am really writing, I am the writer all the time, I think and feel writing 24 hours a day. When I am teaching much the same thing happens, although I have written occasional poems while teaching during past years. But now I am engaged in three? activities: teaching, trying to take care of myself + my children, and writing letters + sending material to + for Yale.