599: Letter
"Letter"
Natasha Trethewey
At the post office, I dash a note to a friend,
tell her I've just moved in, gotten settled, that
I'm now rushing off on an errand - except
that I write errant, a slip between letters,
each with an upright backbone anchoring it
to the page. One has with it the fullness
of possibility, a shape almost like the O
my friend's mouth will make when she sees
my letter in her box; the other, a mark that crosses
like the flat line of your death, the symbol
over the church house door, the ashes on your forehead
some Wednesday I barely remember.
What was I saying? I had to cross the word out,
start again, explain what I know best
because of the way you left me: how suddenly
a simple errand, a letter - everything - can go wrong.
Ahoy there! I have a challenge for you. One of the readers of exceptindreams sent me this message. Do you have any suggestions for him/her? Thank you.
I thought I'd seek your wisdom. Two of my female friends have just announced their engagement to one another and I was looking for a suitable poem about love to accompany the bouquet of flowers I'm sending. I can't quite find anything amongst my scant collection that will do, especially as so many love poems seem based around heterosexual couples.
Natasha Trethewey
At the post office, I dash a note to a friend,
tell her I've just moved in, gotten settled, that
I'm now rushing off on an errand - except
that I write errant, a slip between letters,
each with an upright backbone anchoring it
to the page. One has with it the fullness
of possibility, a shape almost like the O
my friend's mouth will make when she sees
my letter in her box; the other, a mark that crosses
like the flat line of your death, the symbol
over the church house door, the ashes on your forehead
some Wednesday I barely remember.
What was I saying? I had to cross the word out,
start again, explain what I know best
because of the way you left me: how suddenly
a simple errand, a letter - everything - can go wrong.
Ahoy there! I have a challenge for you. One of the readers of exceptindreams sent me this message. Do you have any suggestions for him/her? Thank you.
I thought I'd seek your wisdom. Two of my female friends have just announced their engagement to one another and I was looking for a suitable poem about love to accompany the bouquet of flowers I'm sending. I can't quite find anything amongst my scant collection that will do, especially as so many love poems seem based around heterosexual couples.