The Claire Letters
Jann Burner
- Back
- in
- olden
- days;
- back
- before
- “social-media”,
- “Email”
- or
- even
- the
- “Internet”,
- people
- used
- to
- communicate
- in
- a
- strange
- way.
- A
- person
- would
- simply
- make
- scratches
- on
- a
- piece
- of
- paper
- with
- a
- pointed
- lead
- object
- or
- even
- a
- sharpened
- quill
- from
- a
- bird
- feather.
- They
- would
- then
- dip
- this
- quill
- (called
- a
- pen)
- in
- a
- little
- colored
- ink
- and
- scratch
- letters
- and
- words
- upon
- a
- blank
- piece
- of
- paper.
- Sometimes,
- the
- more
- professional
- person,
- would
- actually
- use
- a
- small,
- but
- heavy,
- machine
- in
- which
- each
- letter
- of
- the
- alphabet
- was
- carved
- upon
- a
- separate
- piece
- of
- metal
- and
- then,
- through
- clever
- mechanical
- manipulation,
- the
- metal
- letter
- covered
- with
- ink,
- would
- be
- stamped
- upon
- a
- blank
- paper
- page.
- These
- individual
- letter
- stamps
- would
- combine
- with
- others
- to
- create
- words
- and
- then
- sentences.
- Then,
- with
- the
- help
- of
- a
- government
- employee
- called
- a
- “mail-man”,
- these
- pieces
- of
- paper
- would
- be
- delivered
- to
- an
- intended
- person
- across
- the
- town,
- the
- state
- or
- even
- across
- an
- entire
- country.
- It
- was
- a
- tediously
- slow
- process
- taking
- days
- and
- days;
- sometimes
- even
- weeks.
- But
- eventually
- the
- intended
- person
- would
- receive
- the
- original
- piece
- of
- artwork
- with
- the
- emotionally
- imbued
- scratches
- and
- thus
- feelings
- and
- experiences
- were
- shared
- over
- long
- distances.
- Needless
- to
- say,
- times
- have
- changed
- and
- that
- was
- long,
- long
- ago.
- Now
- an
- exchange
- like
- this
- can
- be
- accomplished
- in
- a
- few
- seconds.
- No
- paper,
- scratching
- implement
- or
- stain
- required.The
- volume
- that
- follows:
- The
- Claire
- Letters,
- are
- a
- collection
- of
- such
- simple
- scratches
- upon
- sheets
- of
- blank
- paper
- exchanged
- between
- myself
- and
- a
- lady
- from
- all
- the
- way
- down
- in
- Texas.
When
- I
- was
- a
- younger
- man,
- (long,
- long
- ago)
- I
- drove
- taxi
- on
- the
- night-shift
- in
- San
- Francisco.
- One
- evening
- I
- drove
- up
- to
- the
- St.
- Francis
- hotel
- and
- the
- doorman
- ushered
- two
- elderly
- ladies
- into
- the
- rear-seat
- of
- my
- cab.
- They
- wanted
- to
- go
- on
- a
- tour
- of
- San
- Francisco.
- In
- the
- course
- of
- that
- tour
- something
- “magical”
- began
- to
- happen.
A
- few
- months
- later
- I
- received
- a
- letter
- from
- one
- of
- the
- ladies.
- Her
- name
- was
- Claire.
- And
- the
- magic
- continued.
- The
- following
- are
- the
- totally
- unedited
- letters
- between
- myself
- and
- Claire;
- the
- lady
- from Texas…
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