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An Ode to Letters

We cannot be sure what the future will hold,
But I doubt this prediction will fail.
That no one will ever unearth in an attic
An old treasure trove of email.

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Outvoted

In my marriage I have noted
That when all is said and done,
I seem to find myself outvoted
By a vote of one to one.

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Russel Winick recently started writing poetry at nearly age 65, after ending a long legal career. He resides in Naperville, Illinois.

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21 Responses

  1. James A. Tweedie

    Russell,

    Will you please be my lawyer?

    I say this because I woke up too early this morning, checked the first posting at SCP, read your second poem first and started laughing! In my marriage, at least, there is no such thing as a tie vote. In my house, the “No” always wins!”

    When I stopped laughing I read your first poem and started in all over again! We have lost so much with technology. Although I do not miss the rotary telephone dial, I do miss the satisfaction of actually “hanging up” on someone, even to the point of slamming the phone back onto the receiver. Try doing that with an Android or i-phone!

    The humor in each poem was allowed to shine in all its glory insofar as the meter and rhyme were polished well-enough to support and not distract from the wit.

    Reply
    • Paul A. Freeman

      Following your tangent, James, the other day I was wondering if youngsters still use the terms ‘dial a number’, ‘Who’s on the line?’ and ‘hang up’, even though the terms are technically obsolete.

      Reply
    • Russel Winick

      Thank you Jim. I agree with your sentiments about technology, and greatly appreciate your feedback on the poems.

      Reply
  2. Joe Tessitore

    I handed my phone to Mrs. T. and asked her to read “Outvoted”.
    She tried her best to stifle her laughter, but it very quickly got the better of her.
    I think, Mr. Winick, that you must be on to something.

    Reply
    • Russel Winick

      Thanks Joe. As the old baseball ump said, just “calling ‘em as I see ‘em..”.

      Reply
  4. Bruce Wren

    Loved especially that your second poem! Succinct, good rhythm, and super clever! Kudos!

    Reply
    • Russel Winick

      Paul:
      One of my friends said to me: “At least you have a vote.” Thanks!

      Reply
  6. Russel Winick

    Thank you so much Mary. Once, my wife shocked me by saying: “You’re the boss.” I asked: “Then what are you?” She replied: “The boss of the boss.” No doubt, and it’s for my own good.

    Reply
  7. Joseph S. Salemi

    About the slow but steady elimination of regular letters by e-mail, let me say the following. If you have sent an important e-mail to someone and you want to “put it in the attic” for your descendants to find, just print out a hard copy of the e-mail and store it safely. I have maintained a steady and detailed correspondence with an old friend for seven years running, and every single one of our e-mails has been printed out, numbered, and carefully preserved. As I go back and peruse the two thousand e-mails, I’m amazed at how much important information they contain — some of which I had already mostly forgotten!

    Reply
  8. Jeff Eardley

    Short, sweet and to the point. Marriage should be give and take, which normally ends up as, I give, you take. And hand-written letters are things to treasure.
    Thank you for these two excellent poems.

    Reply
    • Russel Winick

      Thanks for your thoughts, Jeff. I share your love of hand-written letters.

      Reply
  11. Christopher Flint

    I suspect you are dreadfully wrong.
    Many attics will lead us to find
    mother lodes of such email within
    old compuuters and drives to be mined.

    Not to mention old media, where,
    it was backed up in files still there!.

    ————-

    As for voting you can’t seem to win,
    you’re supposed to just bear it and grin.
    What’s subtracted from yours
    is awarded to hers.
    The system’s “dominion” you’re in.

    Reply
  13. David Watt

    Russel, your witty and concise poems provided me with a smile. The hand-writing of letters is fast becoming a forgotten art, along with the ability to compose memorable paragraphs. An emoji or two will never quite make up for the lack of well chosen words.

    Reply
    • Russel Winick

      Thank you David. I agree that while email, texting, and other contemporary forms of communication are quite useful, they will not often equate with the well thought out, handwritten letters of yore.

      Reply

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