Letter to the Editor: Poetry, everywhere

Dear friends and colleagues, 
I was pleased that my letter was included in The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Thanksgiving issue.

To the editor:

I am grateful that, against great odds, our Philadelphia Inquirer staff refuse to relinquish the importance of their mission in serving our historic, brave but divided, and, in many ways, tortured city. But there is more: Although it is not overt, there is poetry in our hometown paper’s editing and design, and poetry provides enduring hope, despite all. Take, as an example, the Nov. 17 letter to the editor headlines: “Poor delivery,” “Rethink location,” “Understanding,” “Enough war,” “Bipartisan effort,” “System works.” Wow! (The wow is mine.) And there is still more: The Inquirer is widely read and respected. My recently published letter to the editor led to an op-ed for the Chicago Tribune. In accepting my submission, the editor, who also knows how necessary poetry is, offered me two poems, which I now offer you: “Try to Praise the Mutilated World” by Adam Zagajewski and “A Brief for the Defense” by Jack Gilbert.

SaraKay Smullens

Philadelphia

To The Wall Street Journal, September 9, 2023