Enclosed please find your necklace
which you seem to have misplaced
the last time
you stopped by.

I found it resting
atop the basement freezer
where we discussed
what we could make for dinner
but
somehow
never got around
to doing.
I guess we got distracted.

I guess I got distracted, too
which is why I failed to return it
in a more timely fashion.
I’m sorry for that.

And
I’m sorry for the words
said in anger
at the end of that last visit.
I did not mean
a good forty percent of what I said.

For example,
any things I might have implied
about the stupidity of wearing
some ivory skeleton key
stolen from an ex
as some kind of sex totem…
well,
I didn’t realize the power of such things
at the time.
So I’m sorry
for the tone.

The radio silence, too,
should be forgiven.
I was not prepared to make contact
for a while.
I just…
I needed time.

So,
in conclusion,
I hope you are well
and hope this letter finds you in good spirits
and, most certainly,
I hope you’re still living here
as I don’t know what you’ve been up to
these last eighteen years.