Handwritten Letter Found in a Used Terry Pratchett Discworld Paperback

Dear Jude,

Here I am at Ladies Workout Express. I did papers earlier. I've got the copier jammed AGAIN. 

I'm getting the loan payments lower.

However I got a traffic ticket.

So I have to go to Traffic School for 4 hours.

The cost will set me back about $100.00.

Bitter cold today. I need to let Smoke out this afternoon.

Joyces funeral mass wasn't very good.

I had a headache from it.

Little Bruce fainted during it.

Andy one of the altar boys had to use the bathroom.

Grandma went with me and they had quite a crowd.

Neither Joyce's mom or dad were there.

There was no school Mon - Lincoln's birthday and no school Thurs. - Joyce's funeral.

Snow is melting & I found 2 dead chickens in the yard.

Not much is new, mostly work.

Horse fair is March 3rd & 4th. I might go.

I love you.

Shirley – Mom

Freak Dune Buggy Accident 

(For Frank O'Hara)  

Damn! Pacing cold,

Another winter, shivering

Until I can stand pat--

Acclimatized,

Cards close to my chest

And waiting.

I was only four months out

In July of '66

Just a mewling, grasping

Thing,

A baby,

Which is sort of the

Same as a poem,

I think.

You left behind (they say)

Hundreds of friends

And lovers,

But most importantly,

Your not-so-easily

Dis (missed) poetry.

I imagine you

Lying on the cold,

Damp sand of Fire Island,

The smell of diesel

In your nostrils,

Looking up at

The stars--grains of

Spilled salt on a crisp

Wedding tablecloth--

Chuckling to yourself,

The absurdity!

As Mayakovsky winks

From a passing cloud.

Highgate Cemetery, London