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Love Letters from the Recession

We get a lot of mail at Recessionwire, but this one, clearly intended for another recipient, caught our eye. With Valentine’s Day upon us, we thought we’d share:

Dear XXXXXX-

I want to read you a love poem, one of my favorite poems; a poem by the late poet William Carlos Williams. The poem is called This is Just to Say (1934):

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

This is a love poem. I’m giving it to you because I love you. But I’m also giving it to you because I think it drives home a few worthwhile, key points.

First of all, please note that This is Just to Say was written in 1934, right at the beginning of the recovery from the Great Depression. A period of time not *cough* unlike current times. A period of time when couples maybe couldn’t afford all of the plums (or cute trinkets from Pier 1, or subscriptions to Vogue) they would normally be able to under a more flourishing economy. So let’s be happy with what we’ve got. At least we’re not eating out of an icebox.

The poem teaches an important lesson along the lines of first come first serve. As far as fairness goes, this policy is definitely up there. So, if I happen to get to the mint chocolate chip ice cream in the middle of the night, this is just to say, Forgive me. Or if you wait too long to eat the box of chocolates now sitting on your dresser, Forgive me. Forgive me, Forgive me. Love means never having to save the last piece.

Also, I want you to note the poet’s name. William Carlos Williams. His given name is William Williams. That’s terrible. He made due. We can make due. I think we should cancel our subscription to Vogue. I’m just saying.

Basically, what I’m telling you is this: times are tough baby. Times are tough and tight like they were when we were out of college and just getting by and that doesn’t mean that we can’t have fun, it just might mean that we might consider cancelling a few subscriptions (maybe to Vogue, who knows?) or maybe staying in next Saturday instead of driving to your parent’s house, to save gas. To save money. To buy more plums. Or mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Lastly, this is just to tell you I ate that Cinnabon roll you tried to hide in the cabinet. Forgive me, it was delicious. So sweet and so doughy.

This is just to say I love you. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Love,
XXXXX

Tags: romance, satire, Valentine's Day