Remembering Letter Writing

Long years ago, I wrote to distant friends
I’d never met. Letters connected us—
me a Catholic schoolgirl on a farm, 
him a Jewish atheist, sixty-ish;
me a left-ish political misfit,
him a Peace Corps type, teaching far away; 
me a pen pal reaching for connection,
her a Danish teen, practicing English.
Down a gravel road, the raised mailbox flag
signaled shared stories, caring, connection,
questions asked, beliefs challenged, thoughts provoked. 
For me, a thousand miles from anywhere,
these envelopes with their strange stamps shifted
paradigms and opened new horizons.