At age thirty, Gershwin Burr, a thief, wrote a poem for a woman he hardly knew but who would soon become his wife. It was the only poem he had ever written and the only poem he would ever write. No one but Gershwin would ever read it.
* * *
I hate
I hateThat your date
That your dateIs handsome and tall
Is handsome and tallIn bed
In bedIt’s been said
It’s been saidHe’s exceptionally dull
He’s exceptionally dullAppear
AppearBack here
Back hereWith him, beware
With him, bewareMy heart
My heartTorn apart
Torn apartYou won’t repair
You won’t repair* * *
He wrote the poem on a napkin in a restaurant. It was an embarrassment to him. Besides being childish, it suggested he was unattractive. Certainly, less attractive than the man his future wife was dating. As soon as he wrote the l
