ters
Matt Robinson
pg.443
...
the “bread-and-butter note.”
when you have stayed overnight or have spent a weekend in
someone else’s home, good manners demand that you acknow-
ledge this hospitality in a letter to the hostess. your note should
be specific, expressing how much you enjoyed and appreciated
your visit - and it must be prompt.
a bread-and-butter note is always written to the hostess. even
though you may have been the guest of the son or daughter,
the first letter you write is to the mistress of the house. make
her feel that all her efforts for you were worth while.
... 24,feb./97
dear ,
last night was really great,
and i hope
that you enjoyed it too.
sorry about your carpet-
(musta’ been that last tequila).
hope you’re feeling better than i
do this morning.
oh gawd! what a headache.
your keys are by the phone.
see you downtown
next weekend?
have a good wk.
yours, ________
...
now, the guide doesn’t say, so
does this go on the
pillow
or the night stand?
“a.n.”
Matt Robinson
he grew a beard to cover up those neck scars.
but wrote real and
harsh,
clean-shaven;
close to the skin. his pen betrayed him.
we all wear beards-
carefully grown,
trimmed,
sculpted even.
they help, we hope,
to keep out the bite
of frosty winds.
in the thick of a
beard, it’s hard
to square a jaw
or read lips.
i long for the day
that i can both
adequately grow a full beard,
(shaggy as a sheep dog),
and live
magnificent and shorn.