I tried to find some information about the poet for this entry, but it seems that Naomi Lazard is a mystery. When googled, she turns up as a translator for Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a celebrated Pakistani Urdu poet. The first part encapsulates the frustration I feel when governement, states, or school districts suddenly decide they are going to get rid of what is working and try a new program.
In Answer to Your Query
by Naomi Lezard
by Naomi Lezard
We are sorry to inform you
the item you ordered
the item you ordered
is no longer being produced.
It has not gone out of style
nor have people lost interest in it.
In fact, it has becomeone of our most desired products.
Its popularity is still growing.
Orders for it come in
at an ever increasing rate.
However, a top-level decision
has caused this product
to be discontinued forever.
Instead of the item you ordered
we are sending you something else.
It is not the same thing,
nor is it a reasonable facsimile.
It is what we have in stock,
the very best we can offer.
If you are not happy with this substitution
let us know as soon as possible.
As you can imagine
we already have quite an accumulation
we already have quite an accumulation
of letters such as the one
you may or may not write.
To be totally fair
we respond to these complaints
as they come in.
Yours will be filed accordingly,
answered in its turn.
4 comments:
I agree totally. This is the letter in the public school teacher's mailbox explaining why education has been privatized.
This is a great poem (I'm thinking as I read it a third time). How did you find it if the poet is such a mystery?
I both of Garrison Keillor's books of collected poems. They are some of the best poetry collections around in my opinion.
Yup. Shoulda known. Garrison Keillor's collections and Billy Collins' Poetry 180 collections are among my most well-thumbed!
I've never seen this poem before, so thank you so much for sharing it. It's right on target.
-Susan
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