Personal Letter No. 3 by Sonia Sanchez

Personal Letter No. 3

by Sonia Sanchez

nothing will keep

us young you know

not young men or

women who spin

their youth on

cool playing sounds.

we are what we

are what we never

think we are.

no more wild geo

graphies of the

flesh. echoes. that

we move in tune

to slower smells.

it is a hard thing

to admit that

sometimes after midnight

i am tired

of it all.

Sonia Sanchez, getting right to the "erk" of getting old!

This poem is so straightforward, but I do want to mention a few of the things I particularly love.

we are what we

are what we never

think we are

I don't walk around thinking constantly about being my age. And even looking in the mirror (most times) I can still see myself in my 20s (she is in there, I promise). I startle myself at times when I have to give my age for something or when I am treated in a certain way and I realize, "Oh. S/He thinks I'm OLD." I never think I am . . .

no more wild geo

graphies of the

flesh

I just love everything about this little section. "Wild geographies of the flesh" is an amazing way of referring to not just sex, but all of those things we did to our bodies when we were young. Sanchez broke up geographies, forcing us to slow down to a stop to consider this word, making it incredibly important. And it works--our bodies are contained areas, even worlds, and what we have done to them are very much like topographic maps that geographers use. Every bump, ridge, swirl, elevations, depressions, etc. is there--maybe under make-up or clothing, possibly minimized with plastic surgery or botox, but it's there!

Although the speaker uses "we" throughout--this is an epistolary poem, written to a friend--at the end she uses "I" to great effect.

a hard thing

to admit that

sometimes after midnight

i am tired

of it all.

The word "it" is doing a lot of work here. Dancing? Sex? Being awake? Everything about aging? Life? I would say--yes. On some different late nights, the speaker is tired of these and other things. Not always. Not all of these at once. But yes, some at some times. And admitting this is having to really face that "we are what we are." Saying, "I am 64," (or 70 or 83 or whatever) is one thing. Being depleted of energy at a time when the youthful you would still be going strong is hard evidence and cannot be ignored. This is a great way to end this poem--realistic, confessional, but it also puts the speaker into a relationship not only with the letter's recipient but with us, the readers, which won't stop any of us from aging, but is still a warm gesture.