Heard you tonight at Colby and wanted to tell you
I enjoyed your anecdotes, but you were surrounded
and busy autographing, so I tell you this way.
I also enjoyed the nice little volume of Ploughshares
you edited and am glad Joey was willing to give you
poems for it. The cover is great, and I liked
several of your choices.
No word yet from Pittsburgh, though word
is overdue. While I can’t help expecting the
worst, though I admit to peeking through
hands as I hold them over my eyes
in case something wonderful happens. Incidentally,
I’m working now on several things, but completion
of each still eludes me. I will try to send
more poems for “the fall campaign.”
Now I have an anecdote for you. A
student from UNH who is taking a summer
course on critical analysis from me at
2/
Merrimack Valley College told me the other night
that he is trying to get an English minor–may
even get a major in English–mainly because
of a book that got him interested in poetry,
which he had never considered seriously before.
The title of the book is Kicking the Leaves.
Take this letter out the next time you have
any doubts about your work!
