When Shall We Meet?

Dear Miss Abbot

I put pen to paper with some trepidation

But with the feeling after your last letter

That I really do owe you some sort of response

I want to write you back

But I don't know what to say

How can I explain that I'm not really...

Old

And I'm not at all the man that you imagine

No I'm not at all the man you would expect

But Jerusha, would you object?

Of course I write in contravention of my own rules of engagement

Which forbid any sort of communication from me to you

But only last month I was guilty of sending you a bouquet of flowers

So perhaps the damage is already done

And it's getting very hard to abstain from a response

Especially for a man who loves to correspond

For I long to interject my observations

I'm bursting with opinions and advice

But Jerusha, would they suffice?

I shall motor up to the college one of these afternoons and introduce myself

But I must warn you

I'm not good at friendship

I'm not good at attachment

Or family or commitment

I roundly despise my relations

You're acquainted already with Julia

Who I blame for my low expectations

Jerusha

So perhaps it isn't wise to reveal myself just yet

Why not meet you first as the man I really am?

Why not introduce myself as Julia's uncle?

Daddy just for now remains discreet

So Jerusha, when shall we meet?