An Introduction Is in Order

At the beginning is an excellent place to start. I offer a greeting to you.

                                                 We face each other across a great
                                                 distance, bridged by the thickness
                                                 of a page.
                                                 The words cast shadows over your face
                                                 and mine, their meaning a tide that flows
                                                 back and forth between us.
                                                 I seek to convey a feeling, a thought,
                                                 an idea, and you choose to accept—to take
                                                 a bite, chew, and swallow—or reject.
                                                 We look at each other over time, space,
                                                 and experience, seeing through the words and,
                                                 perhaps, catching a glimpse of the other’s eye,
                                                 staring into the depths—the darkness, the unfamiliar,
                                                 the strange—and by the light of sharing understanding them.