Dean Sobers
“I’m writing to a guy
who lives out in the sticks.
All he’s got to do
is respond and I’ll desist.
I’ve been escalating
the tenor of my prose
He’s been passively aggressing.
Not answering. He knows—”
It’s a scintillating feeling
hearing from an enemy.
It’s a scintillating feeling
hearing from an enemy.
I am negotiating with forces
that are vast and deep.
“—He knows in two or three more letters
I’ll drop the threats and send him
a duplicate of an entreaty,
sent four months ago.
He knows I’m not a real person
and no-one’s typing any words
and there’s not any actual tension.
He knows chapter and verse
of each mailing in the sequence,
and the arcs of the instalments.
There’s nothing living in the darkness.
No-one’s witnessing his silence.”
It’s a scintillating feeling
hearing from adversaries.
It’s a scintillating feeling
hearing from an enemy.
“ … confirm it with a visit … ”
“ … investigation opened … ”
“ … the Enforcement Division … ”
“ … how’d the detector vans work … ”
“ … statement under caution … ”
“ … executing warrant … ”
“Yours faithfully”
“Yours faithfully”