Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910

Esteemed Sir,

Have read with interest your letters to and from the earth.
Regret the delay in reply, but—as your address is uncertain—
must simply send this forth and trust that it finds you.
Hope you are well.

Regret to inform you that we
whom you loved and hated with equal passion
are still as ignorant and corrupt as described.
There is still no shortage of deadly sins
—we have found more than seven—
or deadlier sinners—who propagate like gnats.

There’s a bumper crop of arrogance this year,
a commodity rare by comparison with apathy and greed.
Hypocrisy, your great anathema,
still stinks its way through houses and senates.

Yet we plant our gardens in spring
and put the harvest up in fall.
Halley’s has come and gone since you did
and our university wizards can tell us—to the day—
when it will come again.

Your works have survived more scrutiny
than almost every other—save the Bible—
and in the lifetime since yours
have earned as much admiration
and as many sulfuric curses
as ever you lavished on us.

Hope this finds you well, and in good company.
Hope the harp music you sneered about is finer than anticipated
and the sensual delights you argued for, better than imagined.

If this finds you in a painful place,
pour this water on your wounds:
True, you hated us—but only when we knew better:
should have been, could have done.

For that I bless you, and pray for your soul,
wherever it is. Fare well.

Ever your humble servant, etc.,

Peter Sherrill's writing has appeared in a number of publications, including the Poets' Calendar and Wisconsin People and Ideas. He is a past president of Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets.