Dear Paul,

Thank you for the entire Postcard Poets experience. I found it positive, satisfying, and delightfully creative. Each week a smattering of postcards would arrive in my mailbox and I celebrated each event.

Right after I got my list, I created a plan for myself to get out all 31 poems before the end of August. As I mentioned during the Open Mic, I focused on mailing one poem a day, Mondays through Thursdays, then waiting for the following Monday to roll around before I could mail out a new poem. Denying myself the pleasure of filling out a postcard added to the enjoyment. Of course, I kept the writing going seven days a week. Some days I might get a good start on two or three poems, other days, perhaps only one or even none. I’d work to keep new work several days ahead of mailing them so I could revise and edit the poems.

When I found two people on my list were married and lived together, I sent a long poem. One half to the husband, the other half to the spouse. It was fun.

At this point, I’ve yet to receive about a third of the poems expected on my list, but I’m assuming they waited until August 31 to send out their work, so I’ll be patient. I’m a former teacher (37 years) and I’m more than familiar with the patterns of students/people and the responses to deadlines. Some people work toward deadlines without problems; others procrastinate or have good reasons to have let the work pile up at the end.

Anyway, the real cherry on the top was the Open Mic last night. (Sept 1). There was some genuinely good work from many of the readers. The nice thing about having to choose two poems from a collection of 31 poems is everyone is bound to come up with some good material. I wasn’t disappointed. There was a real sense of pride and community throughout the group, and I thought you handled the role of host with grace and positive encouragement.

So, thanks again. I’m signed up for next summer and I look forward to the experience. I’m including a PDF of all my poems with this email. I hope to make it available to everyone some time after Labor Day.

Take care,

Michael Kennedy

Portland, Oregon

Lazy on a Cosmic Scale

Earth travels through space
almost a trillion miles
during our lifetimes

while I sit right here
unwilling to go upstairs
and switch the laundry.