Salutation

I have all the words to say

keeping up with the blank spaces.

These are letters to write

envelopes to mark and seal.

I could lick through stamps

deliver the mail after I'm done

the waste basket filling up

with my crumpled draftings.

It seems the words I have

are afraid of being written

of being confirmed or edited.

I end up writing, then backspacing,

then saying them again

uttering the same letters

the same names

of people I haven't met.

I careen with my thoughts

only to myself, if to appease

that which keeps moving forward.

The keys wait, the cursor retracts

beginning my salutations.