“The Letter X” by Mark P. O’Donnell

The letter X,
for explicit sex,
for the ghastly formula,
the buried treasure,
the missing number,
the undisclosed measure,
the crossroads,
the crossed heart,
the cross,
the illiterate signature,
the inferior brand name,
the typing over mistakes,
the inebriate’s eyeball
or the fish-market fish’s,
the incorrect answer,
the life-saving stitch,
the whirlybird,
the anonymous grave,
the secret plan,
the forbidden planet,
the unknown man,
the number ten,
multiplication,
shorthand for Christ
and all that’s hidden,
the target the bomb misses,
the poison bottle,
the liquor keg,
the divorced, the former, the past,
and at the last,
at the end of the letter,
written, perhaps unbidden
kisses.

–Mark O’Donnell