Tangled Threads

Not long ago
when mail was slow
across the ocean waters
(and phone costs high
in days gone by)
communication’s steady flow
of parted love
was written out by hand,
no back-up record
on disc or laptop stored,
– and so they had to keep
a diary note
of when and what they wrote,
to keep connecting things they shared,
ensuring missives sent
were then correctly paired
with those replies received,
for overlap and time delay
could make each other seem to say
odd answers to befuddle,
and when aware of heightening muddle
they’d have to try to disentangle
the scrambled threads,
by maybe sending further letters.
which must again criss-cross the ocean waters:
and wait again – time to forget the date
to which this answer must relate … .

And even inland, in Britain:–

I too once found incomprehension
when letter threads of conversation
were causing blank confusion,
but happily we readily reached
an accurate conclusion
– one letter had not reached its destination –
into a rural post-box dropped,
and maybe lay forgotten, stuck,
its journey stopped,
but after quite a while, one day,
that missing jigsaw piece plopped through,
the letter box in his doorway.

[This week's IP: Letters]