May 2, 2016
Jane Hirshfield
American Academy of Poets
75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901
New York, New York 10038
Dear Ms. Hirshfield,
Hi. I am Jae. I attend school in Houston, Texas. I am 16 years old, and I am 6’8. You probably assume that I play basketball, which is true. But I also have an interest in poetry. I ran across your poem in my D period English class. My awesome teacher Mrs. Forster introduced me to different works of poetry, and I found your work most interesting. My mother has always loved poetry and puts it all around our house. So I figured it was a matter of time before I started studying it in school.
I read your poem “Three Foxes by the Edge of the Field at Twilight.” It really spoke to me about the way life is to me: how the people in the poem are chasing these foxes but can’t quite find them or see them; how the people are going on this journey to find these three foxes but, don’t really know if the foxes are actually there. Just like in life--you can be chasing a goal or even someone. But do you really know if you will ever get
the person/goal? This is why your poem really caught me while I was reading it. How in life people can chase something that they don’t see but they go out from their faith and trust that they will accomplish their goals. I’m guessing you can relate as well, given all the hard work you have had to put into poetry. At one point in time, writing poetry might not have been the easiest thing to do. But you keep your faith and became very successful. I can relate also; basketball has been hard for me at points of my life, but I stuck with it and got better. This is what I think you meant by this poem. The foxes are the almost unreachable goal, but you see glimpses of them in the distance.
Your poem “Three Foxes by the Edge of the Field at Twilight” really spoke to me on a personal level. I am very thankful that my teacher made us read these poems. I would recommend this poem to anyone.
Sincerely,
Jae
High School
Houston, Texas
