Loop-de-Loops, or Between Me and Thee, or Sincerely, or .....

 

Have you done any creative writing lately?

He asked in his last letter.

What is writing if it isn’t creative?

Sliding and curving and looping across the page

So that maybe even signing a check is creative,

I’ve done enough of that lately—

And to-do lists on every scrap of junk mail within easy reach

And dentist appointments scribbled diagonally

Across too many dates on the calendar.

And letters—handwritten letters:

Dear Phillip, Dear Reta, Dear Mom and Dad,

Dear Cousin Eddie—

The act of writing itself a creative link

Between me and thee and those near at hand.

Beautiful black on white pen and ink drawings

Of  being and doing— day to day musings,

The mundane and the mystical.

A pen stroke here, a pause there—

Laughter, soup, and last Saturday night’s dance

Spilling onto the page in graceful twists and turns—

Intricate connections not meant for the public eye,

The serious and not so serious passersby.

Some aching hearts and insane hopes—

Even absurd one-liners that surely have no meaning

To anyone save the writer and the writee—

Have their cherished place in private collections only:

A cardboard box, a purple folder, a large manila envelope,

A file cabinet with locked drawer.

Or perhaps stuffed in a recycle bin,

Loop-de-loops and fancy scrawl

Soon to be chewed up and

Redistributed as toilet paper—

Words just a memory floating beneath the surface:

Sincerely, Peace, Love you, See you soon,

Spiraling down the toilet—

Creative writing flushed,

Joining God knows what other flotsam and jetsam of life

On the journey toward nirvana. 

Glenda for the Poplar Grove Muse