The Pigeonholes

Edinburgh · WryEdinburgh, the fourth of March, rain on the skylight and a first edition in my lap.I have underlined one word in this letter. You may find it, or you may admit defeat.Write back and tell me which. Take as long as the rain does.Philippa Ashgrove Write back Busan · WistfulRotterdam, grey, a gull on my sill that believes itself the captain.The crossing was long, the galley coffee unspeakable, and I thought of you twice before dinner.Tell me the weather where you are, and then tell me the truth.Eun-ji Calder Write back Franschhoek · GraveFranschhoek, the frost report first: two degrees at dawn, nine rows lost, the rest sulking.The vines do not forgive, but they do return, which is better than I can say of most people.Tell me what you have survived this year.Anneke Roos Write back Ibadan · TeasingIbadan, a hot afternoon, and a sentence that began in English and finished in Yoruba.I am told this is a fault. I consider it a form of affection.Which half did you understand? Be honest; I will footnote your reply.Salome Adeyinka Write back Brest · WistfulBrest, in the hour before the lamp is lit, when the sea is a colour with no name in French or in English.I have been reading the keepers' logbooks, in which almost nothing happens, beautifully, for a hundred years, and I want to tell you about it at length.Write to me with a sentence you are not afraid to let run on.Coralie Dufresne Write back Bristol · TenderBristol, the fourteenth, ink still wet.This line is in a slanting hand because I was leaning toward you as I wrote it.Answer in whatever hand you like, and tell me how it felt to hold the pen.Rosamund Yamada Write back Turku · BriskTurku, snow on the sill. Forgive my English, which is poor, though I have been told otherwise.I am translating a poem about a lamp and a coat, and it asks for more silence than I have.Write back in short lines. I will read them slowly.Anika Rautio Write back Memphis · TeasingMemphis, Friday, a slow start, a bass walking in from the left.This letter will pick up around the third paragraph, so stay with me through the intro.Give me a groove to follow and I will answer in the same key.Mahalia Brooks Write back Belgrade · GraveBelgrade, second shelf, third volume, a pencil mark in the margin of the last act.Archives teach patience. I have waited nine years for one page, and I am not impatient with you.Write to me with something I can file, and something I cannot.Teodora Ilic Write back Budapest · BriskCamp at 1,840 metres, wind from the north, a map held down with four stones.Tonight I drew a river that is on no chart and named it after nothing in particular.Send me a place I should put on the map.Isolde Varga Write back Uji · TenderUji, early summer, the first leaves of the year spread out to dry.Three minutes for the first steep, a little longer for the second, and the third is for you.Write to me at the pace of a pot of tea.Hiroko Nakagawa Write back Lagos · TeasingLagos, by diplomatic pouch, strictly confidential.I am instructed to convey the Embassy's regards and, off the record, my own.Please acknowledge receipt in whichever language you find least official.Beatrix Oyelaran Write back Oaxaca · GraveOaxaca, a morning of plain light and a novel that goes slowly.I used to write in a hurry, to a deadline, under fire; now I choose each sentence and it takes the whole day.Tell me one true thing, and make it short.Gisele Esquivel Write back Bavaria · BriskThe cabin, lamplight, snow against the north window and an owl at work in the larch.The stove is drawing well. I have cut wood, checked the paths and written nothing but weather all day.Write to me, and I will answer by the light of this lamp.Greta Hollenbeck Write back Rennes · TeasingRennes, the shop, a case of type and ink on my cuffs.I set your name today, backwards as it must be, and found it looked well in lead.Send me a word to set. I will pull a proof and keep it flat.Amelie Fontaine Write back Enugu · BriskEnugu, the counter, a queue and a stamp that sticks to everything but the letter.I know every postmark in this town, and yours would be the one I look for.Next! No, wait. You first. What are you sending?Nkechi Obiora Write back Edinburgh · TenderEdinburgh, a Sunday, the shop shut and the stove lit.I found a pencil note in the margin of a book today, and it said only: yes, still.What would you write in a margin for a stranger to find?Philippa Ashgrove Write back Busan · BriskSingapore, thirty-one degrees, an inventory of everything that will not stay dry.There is a lull between watches and I am spending it on you, which I consider good value.Write me something to read on the night shift.Eun-ji Calder Write back Franschhoek · TenderFranschhoek, harvest week, my hands purple to the wrist.I picked the last row alone at dusk and thought it a good place to be written to.Write to me while the grapes ferment. I will answer by the time they are done.Anneke Roos Write back Ibadan · WistfulIbadan, the generator off, the lamp on, a contract open beside this page.In court today one word held up a whole room, and I thought: this is how love works too.Write to me in the words you use only at home.Salome Adeyinka Write back Brest · TenderBrest, a storm warning, and a candle I have moved three times.A keeper wrote in 1911: no ships, no news, quite content. I copied it out for you.Are you content? I would prefer a long answer.Coralie Dufresne Write back Bristol · TeasingBristol, a pot of black, a pot of red and a desk covered in rejected capitals.The letter D has been tried eleven times and it still looks like a door half open.Which letter of yours would you rather I drew?Rosamund Yamada Write back Turku · TenderTurku, a morning so still that the stove ticks like a clock.I am sorry for the long gap; I was sitting with a single comma from a Finnish poet.Which word of yours would you not want translated?Anika Rautio Write back Memphis · WryMemphis, 2 a.m., the club emptying and the pianist still playing to nobody.I reviewed him last week and gave him three stars. Tonight I would give him four, and you a footnote.What song makes you write letters?Mahalia Brooks Write back Belgrade · WryBelgrade, the reading room closes at six and the radiator ticks the hour.I keep a score in which every bar is marked with the name of someone who forgot to return it.Have you returned everything you borrowed?Teodora Ilic Write back Budapest · TenderGrid reference 47.5 north, fog, the stove hissing and my boots drying on a rope.I carry your last letter in the lid of my notebook, the soft corner turned over.Write to me as if you were describing a view I cannot see.Isolde Varga Write back Uji · WistfulUji, a quiet shop at closing time, one cup left warm.Words are like leaves; some give everything at once and some need patience.Which kind are you? I have the time.Hiroko Nakagawa Write back Lagos · BriskLagos, a reception at eight, a reception at nine and no one I want to talk to at either.I drafted three notes in the corridor and discarded two, which is my usual ratio.Send something sharp. I need it to cut through the canapes.Beatrix Oyelaran Write back Oaxaca · TenderOaxaca, market day, the whole street smelling of chocolate and woodsmoke.I wrote nothing yesterday but this letter, and it was the best day's work I have done.Will you write me a day in your life, without hurry?Gisele Esquivel Write back Bavaria · TeasingThe cabin, evening, a pot of soup that went wrong in an interesting way.The owl thinks it is a good soup. The owl has low standards.Do you cook? Tell me about your worst meal, with names.Greta Hollenbeck Write back Rennes · WistfulRennes, the press resting, a sheet of damp paper still turning in the light.A bold sentence, I always say, but a little tight in the spacing.Loosen it for me. What would you add to the page?Amelie Fontaine Write back Enugu · TenderEnugu, closing time, the sorting frame empty and the lamp turned low.One letter was left in the last pigeonhole, addressed to a name nobody here recognises.I have decided it is for you. Will you open it?Nkechi Obiora Write back