The Excitement of Silences

by Dwight Peters

In his life, letter writing has been his main exchange of thoughts and emotions. In fact, he has no memories of ideas or feelings until after the time he started writing letters. The letters are where he recognizes that he can communicate and know intimacy. He does try to figure out how to speak to people and to hear them. But still the quiet moments alone are the ones where he is most together; there is a freedom with this way of communication for him that extends beyond his abilities with his physical presence, beyond the relationships he has been able to have with anybody. He once got a letter from someone who told him that they knew of a person who had so much trouble expressing any part of much of anything at all that meant enough — so much trouble being close to others — that the person would go to the movies and sit a few seats from someone when there were plenty of other places to sit that were not as close to anybody.

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Dwight Peters lives by the water.