[A. E. Stallings]

I think this is very fine, and I like the rich texture of it. The idea of sonnet as token, a la Rossetti (bringing us back to payment for the ferryman), as Chris points out, is a very attractive one. I do think the POV issues could be clarified, and that that would make this stronger. One of the problems is referring to "father" as though he were the speaker's own (in addition to the re-visioning of events, so that one feels the speaker was present--a sibling?), when he is the speaker's husband's father. the line could be "into your father's room, bearing your coin" (isn't "bright" overused by us poets anyway?). This ambiguity doesn't add anything to the poem, just makes for one having to carefully re-read. It is worth that careful re-reading, of course, but then also perhaps some careful revision: I do think some small tweaks would put the focus back on the poem's strengths, which are considerable.