I found a love letter under the bridge
Under our bridge
The span we crossed and burned and built again
The place I tumbled head first into you
Right when I had planned to run
Your note was wrapped in the coverlet we left behind
You know, last time’s last time
You asked me what we should do with the blanket
Let’s leave it here – maybe a homeless person will need it
You told me I was kind – your heart ached – I felt it
For a homeless person
I’m that person, your person
So, I left the blanket here for me
Maybe you’d be there, too?
Tucked up in that crevice
Next to your love letter hidden in the folds
How did you know I’d come back?
The scent of us lingers, fills my nose
and I want you
Want us
Did I write this or did you?
My fingers trace the letters
The strokes curve and wind into the next, and
I can’t decipher where one word ends and the other begins
The lazy phrase you shouted with abandon
is front and center in black and white
You said it every time and I snatched the syllables from your lips
in case I’d never hear it again
You said it first,
but I meant it more
You hinted at promises – always, someday, mine
Throaty whispers that tie me tethered to you
That love letter…
Did I write it, or did you?
The loop of the Y, the curve of the V
It could have been you
but it was probably me
~~~~
This bit of prose was inspired while running a new trail today. I found an abandoned blanket under a bridge along with an empty bottle of wine and a damaged notebook. It wasn’t long before bad poetry, a swirling story, and a playlist carried me home.
Adding to the inspiration was a memory of reading about the Love Letter Library and Gypsy Journal projects. Check out Nicole’s Love Letter Library and join her in the Stop and Drop Love Letter Campaign.
The Love Letter Library was established on the simple idea that this world could use a little more love. Somewhere along the way we have lost some of the magic that used to exist simply by not taking the time to notice it.
Stop Drop and Love Letter was inspired by a combination of our affinity for love letters and the beauty of discovering something wonderful and unexpected in the world. Over the past few months The Love Letter Library has been composing hand written love letters and leaving them in random locations in our little corner of the world. ~Nicole Ahr
Imagine how you would feel if you found a love letter written for somebody else – when, in truth, it was written just for you. xoxoxo
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This is worthy of that
❤
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Thank you, my friend xo
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Beautiful.
That whole jumble of reality distortion (did you write it, did I?), the bridge and blanket as metaphor perhaps, just loved it all. Though I had a laugh…I thought you said “spawn” when I first read: “The span we crossed and burned” although I guess in that distorted reality spawn could work too. Lol!
(Hey…ever read Hannah Richter? She had a big love letter campaign thing a couple years ago I think. I’ll check for you, bc my memory is shit lately. )
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Spawn – span…potatoes-potAWtoes 🙂
I had SO much fun with this. Turns out that I had just read some techniques Hemmingway used – brevity, leaving something to imagination, using the self-concious.
When I saw that blanket under the bridge, I couldn’t wait to get back to my car in case I lost the words forming in my head. It got my slow ass moving for sure!!
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Love when that happens.
In an emergency, the notes app on your phone comes in handy as does the memo recorder. 🙂 I’ve used both…often. Auto-correct on notes while running could yield entire new poems. Hahaha!
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Hannah Brencher, doh.
❤
http://www.amazon.com/You-Find-This-Letter-Strangers/dp/1476773602
http://www.moreloveletters.com
http://thepositive.com/the-love-letter-mission-hannah-brencher/
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OMG! This is so awesome! I was just thinking yesterday how cool it would be to write love letters and just leave them places. I signed up for the love letter library (and gypsy journal) but I didn’t know what to do with my letters. I can’t wait to see this video (damned day job!). Thank you so much for reading my little tourette of the brain. xo
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Oh honey that project has your name all over it!
I bet you could do your own spin-off project. Hint. Hint.
Do you read “Letters of Note”? Just google it. They share actual letters from history. Some quite beautiful.
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OMG…really?!?!? That just gave me goose bumps. Gurrrrl….you have my mind spinning now….
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And it’s in HARD COVER!! SQUEEEEALL!!
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this is beautiful Michelle…..
I’m so glad you made it back to the car fast enough to write
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and now i wanna write love letters too….
i’ve been wanting ANOTHER project 😉
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You SO need to look into the Love Letter project–you’d be a natural! I signed up (and paid a nominal fee) to get the pretty lettered cards and Gyspy Journal. Nicole, the brainchild, is a wonderful and kind person. I follow her on Instagram where she posts photos of where she leaves her love letters.
I wrote and deposited my first love letter in Colorado Springs. I’m also messing with an idea in my head…I definitely want you to be a part of it if I ever get organized enough to do something.
In the meantime, check out Nicole and her mission. It’ll make you happy. xo
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Christy then reminded me that I could have put the notes on my phone 🙂
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