LOOKING
at it
NOW
Tom
Litster
ABOUT Looking At It Now
At the threshold of old age, I need a new account of myself. I expect to meander, shift my voice,
and change my story more than once. It may be left unfinished, a work in progress, but I’ll keep
the pencil moving against the paper. If nothing else, I find meaning in the attempt.
ABOUT Tom Litster
A college friend kept the letters I wrote to her over a few decades following our graduation. She unexpectedly mailed them back to me in manilla envelopes that included a note: “I kept your letters because I thought you were going to be famous. Now I realize you will not be.” I did not disappoint intentionally, mind you.
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As expected of my age, I am retired now—an elbow unjointed from the large body of society meant to do work. Retired from what is not important. The wheels slow down and move to the side of the road, the mind changes its means of transportation. I rummage through the artifacts of a life—the chaos, delights, and weary sadness of it. This will do. I am not disappointed.