I keep words in a black box on a closet shelf near my desk,words drawn from Christmas letters received from friends,which I cut into pieces on January 1st and store for safekeeping. Sometime later I pour them out, scramble, rearrangeuntil phrases, even sentences emerge, some making sense,others something only a person with a rich imaginationwould see as meaningful. Other times I use the words to write our annual Christmas letter,mixing and matching syllables, trying to sound interesting,but usually sounding as blasé as the trip diariesor catalogs of illnesses I receive from friends. Next year, I’ll glue the snippets on paper,slap on a picture of my dog, makes copiessend out as an email attachment…some recipients may even recognize their wordsand get a kick out of my missive,others will scratch me off their list of friends.
~Peter Witt
USA