ELEGY by perletwo

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Found on the the flyleaf of a paperback copy of Erich Segal's "Love Story," in the cargo hold of a DC-10 bound for Nashville, Tennessee

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"Reply to Erich Segal"

You could say that she was intelligent;
and you could say she was wise,
usually an 'either' rather than an 'and.'

You could say that she was beautiful,
and that she entirely lacked vanity;
also more 'either' than 'and.'

You could say she had known cruelty,
and it taught her how to show mercy.
Or say that she had known unfairness,
and it taught her how to be kind.

Or say that she was light and bright,
and warm and soft and gentle,
Strong, and scared, and hiding inside
potential cut dead on the vine,

too young -
too young -

But perhaps at the end of the day
Your answer still fits it best:
Say she loved with her whole heart
and love repaid her ahundredfold.

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scribbled beneath that, in a far less formal hand

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Bugger bony Ali McGraw, Ducks. She doesn't hold a candle to my favorite little witch.

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Based on "Love Story," whose opening line (I think it's the opener) is: "What can you say about a 25-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful? And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me."

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