A letter is due.
It has been for a long while now. It has been promised for a while. And it lives, with its honest intentions and desire to be alive. Yet, it does not “be-come.” The recipient of the letter is special. The letter, therefore deserves to be special. In this need of mapping, it lives a ghostly life. It exists, but it does not. It is true in spirit but it is unable to manifest itself on paper.
And paper it shall be. For this one letter is supposed to be tangible. The rough-smooth texture of paper, the blot of ink on it. When I write it, it has to drag at the tissue of the paper, as I pull ink through it – with curved lines that form the words.
The words that form the sentences.
The sentences that form the paragraphs.
The paragraphs that form the body.
The body that holds in itself the world of the emotions that I experience at this moment – that only you are privy to, my friend. How, shall I do that? How shall I make the dance happen? Because it is not just any letter that I want to write – it is a letter that I want to write to you.
My feelings have dried more than the ink in my pen. They are flakes I dare not touch for they will crumble. In their marginal existence – they carry a semblance of expression. Yet, today, I worked with the dried ink. The basin, water, and some help from me – and I have my Camlin screw-top working. I cleaned it well, water, cloth rags and all. I got out my letter-writing pad and I started writing.
Today is not the day – was the first thought that came to my mind. I was to pre-occupied with my ink-pen. Will it stay true like the other times I had written a letter to my friend? Will it participate in the symphony of my thoughts and the ink on paper? Will it move as effortlessly as my thoughts, once I get started? Does the pen remember how we used to write? Will it allow our usual flourish of the strokes and the tails of the letters? Strong stems and sharp corners? Sharp apices and beautiful bowls?
After the training I realise that it is not just my pen that needs training.
Wonderful! You so often write about something that I later realize was very similar to my thoughts once-upon-a-time, except that I never wrote them down…
Thank ye! It’s like we are living deferred-parallel lives, then!
And I am documenting it!
Ha ha…more often than you realize. And it’s the latter (the documenting) that is truly enriching in the long run…:)
Gracias, amigo!
I agree with Mahendra, the documentation is very enriching. You are almost magical with your words. I am left wondering, if I would ever be able to express myself with such clarity.
A letter is due indeed. I am confident, once you get down to it, the pen will dance to the tunes you want it to. It is only a matter of time.
Ah, but you are too kind. Thank you! I wish this magic would manifest itself on paper. And you now know that the intent is strong as ever, if not more. But, yes, even now, the road to hell is paved with good intentions!
A philosopher once told me, it is more about the intention behind an act than the act itself. I believe the magic will happen, since the intentions are in the right place.
I like this philosopher, whoever (s)he is!
I like the audio-visual component to this post. It starts out like a poem and ends like an essay!
Ah, now that you say it…