Youmna

Dearest Ana,

For your birthday with wishes for beautiful pursuits!

In the package you sent, I was offered the following:

1. a Polaroid "I-zone" instant pocket camera

2. a link to an image with the definition of drapetomania inscribed on its surface.

In these, I found the concept of Pursuit.

According to Merriam-Webster, the following words rhyme with Pursuit.

acute, astute, Asyût, bear fruit, beetroot, Beirut, birthroot,bloodroot, breadfruit, butut, cahoot, Canute, catsuit,cheroot, choucroute, clubroot, commute, compute, confute,crapshoot, cube root, deaf-mute, depute, dilute, dispute,dry suit, elute, en route, enroot, flight suit, folkmoot,freeboot, galoot, grapefruit, G suit, hardboot, hip boot,hirsute, imbrute, impute, jackboot, jackfruit, jumpsuit,kashruth, lawsuit, long suit, lounge suit, minute, nonsuit,offshoot, outshoot, Paiute, pantsuit, permute, playsuit,pollute, recruit, refute, repute, salute, sans doute, seaboot,snowsuit, solute, square root, star fruit, star route, statute,strong suit, sunsuit, sweat suit, swimsuit, take root,taproot, to boot, tracksuit, trade route, transmute, tribute,uproot, volute, wet suit, zoot suit.

(yes, Beirut was included--- I did not add it!)

Pursuit

makebelieve that longing is all that matters

you will keep returning to small

the camera has a rubber handle like the ones on underwater masks, I imagine it swinging from

my wrist as I walk fast, accidently hitting another hurried body. Instead, I set it on the desk, it watches

there are four settings: off, cloudy, sunny and a small figure in a box with a triangle roof. I open it and

no film, only its possibility. It is shaped like this, like landscape, like purple plastic landscape

my day is long

there is coffee

without sugar

write about

spoken form

and language

will you find

a way to talk

about loss

in the afternoon

I stop to change

buildings, rain

arrive soaked

ask for more

time, not enough

orange bucket

seats and a

book, quick

look down

and prepare

tomorrow, soon

near the bridge

exit, walk to

water, skip it

we shove into

wooden corners

make plans for

next summer

beneath street

lamp, two bikes

you and I, towards

the hill, do not run

its warm now

later, there will be

remnants of film

open, find sound

12 exposures, September 20, 2011.

Love,

Youmna