Dear Anna:

Jeffrey Zable

I am so sorry that my poems made you feel sad.

I would never want anyone to feel sadness as a result

of something I’d written. And please understand

that I would never write something to deliberately

make someone sad, even though I admit that I have

been mostly sad throughout my life—and sometimes

even depressed. I could say more about this,

but won’t because doing so might make you sadder.

I want you to know that from now on I’ll try

to write about pleasant things and that I’ll start

by writing about flowers as I often take walks

in Golden Gate park and see an abundance of them.

Many are quite beautiful and, no doubt, make some

people feel glad to be alive. Yes, next time I’ll try

writing about flowers and if that doesn’t come out

as it should, I’ll try writing about the weather on

the next sunny day and focus on how wonderful

the sky is to behold, and how lucky we are to be able

to put on bathing suits and bask in glory of the sunlight.

I will also write about animals that I see in passing—

of course, mostly dogs—and how the majority of them

seem so appreciative to be out and about and don’t appear

to have a care in the world. There are so many things

to write about that have nothing to do with sadness

which, as I think about it, makes me wonder why

I even wrote those poems in the first place. I hope

you will forgive me, and in time be able to forget

that my name was ever associated with those poems.

That would make me very happy…