The first letter
The first letter arrived on shocking orange paper
You apologized profusely for your handwriting
It’ll get better, you kept insisting
But I fail to find the utility of the elegant handwriting we labored to perfect in the fourth grade
I see that we have been striving a long time for things that have no purpose
We have been moving (across) oceans, land too
Flights-buses-trains
Spending to harvest from the earth what is our good reward
What will make sense of labor
I tell you this when I write back
I also tell you about how I feel lost these days
That I have discovered that the most important thing in the world
Is being with the people you love the most
And how in the absence of that love, you come undone
Spiraling, unwinding
Marking the edges of your writing paper
There are more things I would say
More tears I would share
But this is only the first letter
Deborah Saki is a Ghanaian writer and literary enthusiast. Her work has previously appeared in the Kalahari Review and in the Tampered Press, and is forthcoming in the Library of Africa and African Diaspora Magazine. You may find her on Instagram at @deborahsaki and on Twitter at @deborah_saki.
Banner Art: Predella, a vispo by Robert Frede Kenter (c) 2024. Twitter: @frede_kenter, IG: r.f.k.vispocityshuffle, icefloe22.
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