April 22, 2015
Dear Edward Hirsch,
At first my English teacher had us read different poems from different authors. I normally don’t like reading poems because they take time to understand why they wrote the poem. But when I saw your poem, “Cotton Candy,” I felt that you personally were sending that poem to me. I’m hard of hearing and can’t really hear all that well, but when I read your poem, I mentally could hear your voice. I can hear your voice in these lines:
“and I ate cotton candy, that sugary air, that sweet blue light spun out of nothingness”
When you are describing the cotton candy, it’s like you are talking to a blind person telling them what you are seeing.
I can truly see what you are talking about in the poem you wrote. Since I have been to Chicago, I know what you are talking about. I have a few questions for you. When you wrote the poem, were you the eight year old that had the cotton candy? Did you ever go back to the same place you walked on the bridge? Would you recreate that moment with your grandfather?
Poetically your fan,
Ethan
Grade 10
Utica, NE