Published on: DATE
Letters

I started with pencils, shaping each word
with care, but soon learned to type.
After the Smith-Corona portable
was taken through the window,
I bought an old IBM, pre-Selectric,
and gradually filled a file drawer
with correspondence, incoming originals
and carbons of what I sent, the x-outs
diminishing with time and haste.
Then printouts. Then the drawer
collected rust. Emails stay on the hard drive,
data files, quick first drafts, digital ephemera,
born to evanesce. "I have made this longer
than usual because I have not the leisure
to make it shorter."

For living contact, uncap the pen,
lay out a sheet of paper,
and craft a message of friendship
with real blood.