My mother tells me

              Letter writing is a lost art

My brother says

              You may be the only one who still cultivates this beauty

                                                                 of letter writing

I do think it's beautiful

Stationery is so pretty

         The lines are so straight

And all the pretty pens in all the pretty colors

                                              Like my closet

It is beautiful

Boys used to write girls letters

Stick them in a tree

Stick them in a bottle and float them across the sea

         Soldiers fighting all over the world

         Used to send letters to their wives

         Their sons and daughters

         To let them know they were thinking of them

         And would be home soon

                 Brothers write their little sisters letters

                 Long, long letters

                 Before they meet them

                 For the first time

                                            Letters

                                 are a part of our history

        How else would we really know what happened

                      At Auschwitz or Jasenovac

Letters

Say things people may never have

Said face to face

Or over the phone

It is beautiful

To know someone else is thinking of you

All the way across the globe

             Or just a couple blocks away

                              I'm still a little girl who runs barefoot

                               To the box each day

                                  Searching through what was left

                             Is there a letter with my name on it

                               Did my letter come today

My mother tells me

                 People don't have time to write letters

My brother says

                 They would much rather text

But, they agree, I'm sure they

Love to receive letters from you

It's so special

        Text

Can't switch colors and fonts

Cursive, then script

        Text

Can't be written as mirror writing

Or accented with personal touches

        Text

Can't duplicate my beautiful handwriting

That I painstakingly perfected

        Text

Can't arrive on Friday with your name on it

Can't give you new stamps to collect

        Text

Is impersonal

It doesn't even have to be written

It can be said, spoken to magically appear

But it isn't beautiful

                      Letterwriting            is            beautiful

 Am I really the only one to cultivate this beauty?
  Am I really the only one determined not to let this fine art

                                                                            Be lost

Here's my address:

I'll check the box every day

Excitedly awaiting your letter