C/O Indian School, RFD

10/20/83
For Misty: Browning, Mt

There was a letter today addressed to me:
C/O Indian school, RFD*

It was from Home,
and in that careful, slanted style…
“Please write,”
She said,
“It’s been awhile.”
In her careful way
She told how time has passed
Since I wrote September last.
On that dark Montana night,
Her day’s work done,
The dishes stacked,
The dog out back,
She sat by the table and wrote with care,
The lamplight glimmering in her hair
As she wrote of home
And how she missed me there.
Very gently,
She said,
When we didn’t hear
She worried..
And so she was sending stamps..
Just in case, she said, I’d wanted to write…
Not that I had to,
But I might…
She cares,
And she knows how I care, too…
Even though
It has been awhile since I told her so…
But, she knows, too, about being young and procrastinating,
And she understands,
But, she wishes, still,
That I would write
…and I will.
I will tell her I’m well,
And I’ll say more than that,
She will know,
Because she knows about love, and understanding and caring,
She knows, too, the ache and emptiness of loneliness,
That is why she sends me stamps…
I love my stamps,
I think I will keep them.

*RFD – Rural Free Delivery