THE STENOGRAPHER

    A series on interlocking poems I wrote inspired by a stenographer's dictionary that I found in the basement of a library I worked at. The dictionary had a slip of handwritten paper tucked between its pages, which read, "Don't you know I love you / every hour of the day," as if somebody had written this note and then used to dictionary to transcribe their love letter into code. The poems fictionally reimagines the relationship between a stenographer and the man who writes through her.

...an English major who knew shorthand was something else. Everybody would want her. She would be in demand among all the up-and-coming young men and she would transcribe letter after thrilling letter.     The trouble was, I hated the idea of serving men in any way. I wanted to dictate my own thrilling letters.
- Sylvia Plath