do all of these words
aligning the fancy
paper within these
pretty envelopes
tell the very
same story?
perhaps we
need a few
gophers running
around telling us all—
demanding—that we
tell it differently. or
that we say something
entirely different, top
to bottom.
we being the few of us
correspondents who are
left, trying to introduce
ourselves to perfect
strangers, day in
and day out.
the few of us. haven’t
the numbers been
recently crunched?
aren’t there more
of us now than ever?
and when we each
read the words scrawled
upon one of those pretty
pages after ripping open
one of those envelopes
that has only just arrived,
are we not just a little too loud
with our hello, nice to meet you,
my name is so-and-so, and i am
so happy to receive your missive.
i’m single. well, i’m actually
in an open relationship, but
the real truth is i’m married,
fully committed, and i’m staring
over this pretty letter out to my
backyard from my porch swing
that i swing back and forth upon
most evenings because the weather
is always nice here. i grew up in...
i went to school at... in the armpit
of the nation, that is correct. i studied
a lot of things, but more than anything,
school was a place where i began to really
understand who i was. and who i am is....
