WATERMARK

On the second of this month, a friend sent me an email:

well?

So I shot back (ok, I didn’t shoot it back; I sent it yesterday):

no.

you?

& he responded something along the lines of:

I’ll try to decipher this later.

At which point it occurred to me that his first email might not have been an inquiry into my state of health, but a simple question:

are you there?

So I sent this, which I post here so we’re all up-to-date:

allow me to elaborate

you said: ‘well?’

which i interpreted thusly: ‘are you well?’

and
so replied: ‘no, i am not well. but then, i seldom am. however, i am
presently less well than is common, and focusing unduly on same.’

and i then inquired, accordingly, into your state of being: ‘and how are you?’

but this interpretation may be a consequence of my current tedious preoccupation with unwellness.

i shall now desist speaking in latinate

i am here.
i am unwell.

you?

I’ll be back soon.