A rare thing it is, to receive a letter from a friend.

Where have they all gone? These hand-written messages

That were sent so long ago.

In a world of texting and e-mails, we have distorted the timing of replies.

We have forgotten patience.

Patience, both in the receiving

And the writing.

We forget the time it takes to craft a message,

With love, or at least, with care

Since not all letters are love letters,

Why else would America have joined World War I?

No. But letter-writing is becoming lost.

Lost in a world full of instantaneous reponses,

We forget to slow down and let things come at us with breaks.

We forget that sometimes we need to have a little time,

If to just respond to a message, or a letter,

If to just listen.