Disappearing Art
Disappearing Art
Not many people send
Handwritten letters any more.
We used to go the mailbox
Full of high hopes.
Maybe a favorite aunt wrote
That she was coming for a visit,
Or we discovered a letter
From that special person, and
We’d tear it open right there!
After we’d read them, often
We tied the letters in packets
With a piece of blue string,
To be reread and savored
Later, over and over again.
Sadly, now that we can send e-mails
Nearly anywhere in the world
And expect a quick reply,
Written letters seem old-fashioned.
And yet, we’ve learned so much
About the past from letters
That helped us understand
The letter-writers and their times -
Letters from a president, a statesman,
A prairie mother, a soldier overseas.
What of the correspondents of today?
Will museums display their e-mails?
I wonder how great will be the loss –
All the stories that will never be written
And all the history we will never know.
Copyright © Barbara Peckham | Year Posted 2021
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