ENVELOPE
With real hardcopy folded into it
There is a responsibility for an outcome.
It may contain weighted down sorrows
Or the news of a birth or engagement,
Your impending job loss,
Or the offer of a place at Oxford or Cambridge,
A job at the cafe on the corner, or an expedition
To somewhere the condensation drips from the cliffs
And baboons moon from the branches
Of trees you don’t recognise.
To its many destinations this envelope
Contains a warning of colour and sheep on hillsides,
And hibiscus flowers burning their brights
Through the laminate surface.
This envelope does not contain
An invitation to the funeral I shall attend tomorrow,
Or to a book launch for something I’ve not yet written.
This envelope is the one that I wrote for you, containing entry
To the October world inside my head,
And I hope you can come.
