And The Letter Came

And the letter came: And you thumbed, humbled, over it and over An hundred times a week, you took it out Pouring each word over again As for the first time, it still was And blotchy it was from tears And tips, nervous fingers which pulled little rips Into the off-white paper, where much strong handling bore Each time's grief bearing need: you read it, nothing more Seen differently; surely always the same, yet nuances Came despite instinctual knowledge of before; Did this sentence- this wording style preferred it That he might mean only just that- or was it Imagination's sullied creation? did those words Sound tired; and if very thought of you Became fatigue, was it the plague of his precious pen, or brain Or just the worry of his own entrenchment there? Even so; sometimes you read familiar words That joy shouted from, certain as could be. Times when you felt uneasy, queasy at one word Or phrase, as if a ringing death-knell must have Rang: to spell out the end of time's bitter being- Crossed yourself, three times; and said a beaded prayer. The letter came to be important to you that this Could cause everything to cease; a hunt driven Feverish, once it went missing where from out it's pocket-house (deeply as when you bent under the trees.. to pick up crying children in their frail need) it leaped. And when one day unfolding, the letter dropped into your lap Pieces neat piled into sections; folds perforated through Because so nearly worn out; stained, thin-souled as grief itself Heart treasure map woven in lover's lace; bequeathed And then realized: there no other letter ever was or be; If never sent, gone missing; you'd pinned all quickened heart beats Stayed hope's courage upon a single letter's fate, and it Carried through the fears, saw above the swarming years Sleepless nights when, no tears left, it swam: you gathered up the limp Damp, feathered pieces and stowed them safe for keeping Knowing some day again, when things were not the same And finding them you would remember, this single letter By which all hope then was given, your hope that came As a single letter; came due south, straight down from heaven..