Five days after leaving some words of literary invitation at Fort Chivalry, I returned. In the interim, rain had fallen and wind had blown.<\/p>\n
The fort had new accents: an empty beer bottle, roof lattice, log chairs, more crab shells and sand dollars.<\/p>\n
The notebook paper was still there, as was the Keno pencil I left behind for visitors to write with.<\/p>\n
Someone did. Actually, two people. Someone had responded to my request for an oath to the fort and written: \u201cI come to the sea to breathe and pledge to always appreciate her gifts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Someone else left behind an illustrated poem (pictured here) that was written on a mini notepad (brought by the writer), perforated on the left side. (I love perforations on paper! I love the word perforate! Note to self: write the true story of the woman who broke up with me because I didn’t tear perforations off the handwritten love letters I wrote her. Write the first draft of this on perforated paper. Send draft to woman.)<\/p>\n
There are stark clues in this perforated note. I am thinking like a detective now. What can we deduce from this note? Reading a hundred mystery\/crime\/detective novels the past year has sharpened my powers of observation.<\/p>\n
What do these lines, the penmanship, the punctuation, the illustration, tell you?<\/p>\n
For one thing, the writer got \u201cloose\u201d right, not \u201close.\u201d Spellcheckers never catch that.<\/p>\n
(If you found this post enjoyable, thought provoking or enlightening, please consider supporting a writer at work by making a financial contribution to this blog or by purchasing an NSP book.) <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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