Thank you for your last message;
it was good of you to write
and at such length..
I’d just like to say first
as a preamble
well a short preamble
let’s say a presprint that’s pre-sprint
and as you must know by now,
I tend to be rather fussy and academic
about punctuation
though I’d like to say
that from my point of view
this arises from a love of punctuation
which is to me as
those pauses which lovers share
between remarks –
those pauses when their silent minds
rejoice in that unity of selves and
rejoice in the completeness
of their own self
as reflected in the lover – as
Plato and Shankara and others not yet known to me alas
agree
so, that said,
and I hope you’re
still with me on this,
I’d like to mention what
may be a small point to you…
well, this is it:
when you rounded off your very
self-revealing and self-analytical
study of yourself in depth:
Love Sally
I was drawn to wonder
if the absent comma
was an oversight..
which can so easily happen
in these hurried times
or perhaps a Freudian slip
which we might discuss at length
or a deep wish, which
might have implications
for our formal relationship
which we would also need to discuss at length
or simply a command
I look forward to your reply
to what I hope you appreciate
is a sensitive and well-meaning
question which might forward
our discussion of your poetry in depth?
PS there’s no need
to reply at length to this
possibly trivial matter
on this occasion..
Michael Shepherd
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dear-poemhunter-correspondent/
