Letters

Reading your sentiments,
I can imagine the places you visit,
And it is like we are
Both there, seeing them together,
The crescent moon waning
Like time itself,
Sand of the shore
Pulled away by the ocean tide.
Leaves trail from their hammock of trees,
Coming to rest on the grass.

How powerful a card, a note is,
Looking at your handwriting,
How you labored over each letter,
Caring for each word
Bundled into this parcel,
Like a sailboat crossing the sea
With its precious cargo,
Bringing such wonders from afar.

Before long, the paper may tatter
From all the times I’ve reread this letter,
Holding onto your belief in me,
But even if the pages of ink fray,
I’ve memorized each line,
Visualizing every word
As though they were fallen leaves
Floating on the surface of a pond,

Letters

Just as they balance in my heart,
Postage-stamped with the imprint of
Your kind message.

Any moment when I doubt
Where I am going, what to do
I think of what you’ve said,
Epistles of encouragement,
Like whispers on the wind
That make me feel light
Even as the sun beats down,
And I know, even when you’re not with me,
What you’d say now.

I draw a blank
Notebook sheet before me,
Sheaf of pages like a white-frosted cake slice
Of moonlight,
A light that has written its own story.
I follow its path, and I don’t forget
Your hope-radiant faith.

No matter what the mailbox
May tomorrow hold
Like an unopened time capsule,
As I uncap the pen,
I know what I will say.