Declaration
I got a
letter from my mother today. It's sans cerif, so it's either
lower-case "l" or capital "I". I think it is an
l. Mom writes every week. Soon I'll be able to make a whole sentence.
Alas, I'm really low on punctuation, and have not a single period, so
I can produce nothing declarative. Still, there are many things I
want to know, so I think I'll ask a question.
Today I
got a space. Ha ha, that's what I say when I really got nothing.
Always look on the bright side, Dad said. I'm envious. He could
afford semicolons! How many can actually use a semicolon? Yet
he'll give me nothing, nothing at all. I have to "make my own
way."
I took a
walk in the park. I saw that girl! Yes, the one I've
mentioned. She is harmonious of form, she walks in grace, and her
smile would melt the hardest stone. She sat on a bench by the duck
pond, and I walked as slowly as I dared. I was in heaven! To cap off
a perfect day, by the path, half-hidden by dead leaves, I found a
period. Now all I lack is "I v ou". I can trade my question
mark for at least one of those, I'm sure.
Today:
disaster! I got home early, hoping for something from my mother. The
box was empty. Upstairs, my apartment door was unlatched. I pushed it
open, slipped inside. Nothing in the front room seemed disturbed, but
when I got to my bedroom I found the floor awash with papers,
clothing, and all the rest of my stuff. The mattress was askew and
the letters and punctuation were missing. Nothing else had been
taken.
I spent
so long saving. If I start anew it will take forever! Even if I don't
get robbed again.
I went
back to the park, sat on my favorite bench. (The one by the duck
pond.) I sat, staring at nothing. When someone sat beside me I was
taken by surprise. It was she, staring at me with her dark eyes and
bewitching brows. She held out her hand. On it: a question mark.
I
nodded. It didn't matter that I had no words.
End
Publ.,
Daily Cabal, Dec. 14, 2009
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