Practicing to Walk Like a Heron

“Write to Your Unknown Friends”

1 “Write to Your Unknown Friends” —Jeff Gundy This is for Bob. He’s a good guy, likes to fly fish, records each catch, where he caught it, the weather, type of fly, time of day. He tosses everything back. This is for Tanya. She’s a single mom with three kids. She works behind the counter in the post office, knows everyone in town. Years ago she threw away the “Return to Sender. Address Unknown” stamp. This is for Ted. Ted sells cars. He wishes cars with fins would come back. He knows gas mileage matters. But “You don’t see mileage when a car drives by.” This is for Kenny. He never made it past the sixth grade. In the winter, he plows driveways, shovels walks. The rest of the year he paints houses, mows lawns, hauls junk. Each morning he buys a paper, reads it over a cup of coffee, black, and does the crossword. This is for Ann. In her backyard, she has a perennial garden, best in town, more than a hundred different plants. She has four greyhounds and a parakeet. Wherever she goes, she wears a hat. 2 This is for Martha. She talks to sparrows. She tries to tell them something they’ve never heard. This is for Sammy. He’s always late. He loves to play blackjack. He’s no good at counting cards. He wants to own a motorcycle and ride it to places he’s never been—Toledo, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Maine. Today there’s no one around. Too bad. It’s a good day to call some friends, see if they’d like to come over, shoot the breeze, have some pizza, maybe watch an old movie on TV. ...