#to c.t.

[eccolassu]

To C. T.

(Written originally in a letter to Charles Tomlinson who, in his reply, suggested this division into lines of verse. The poem is, therefore, a collaboration.)

One imagines himself addressing his peers I suppose. Surely that might be the definition of 'seriousness'? I would like, as you see, to convince myself that my pleasure in your response is not plain vanity but the pleasure of being heard, the pleasure of companionship, which seems more honorable.

--George Oppen