Sincerely

Usually the phrase is stated
mechanically as a closing
courtesy meaning nothing in
particular yet still capable of
leaving a slight buzz of warmth
as though the impersonal has
great meaning via a person
delivering a service, a stranger
in a casual encounter, a clerk
at the checkout counter careful
to display correct public relations
attitudes breezily knocking off
the parting: "Have a nice day!"

Thus from the lips of an utter
stranger emanates a social nicety
concluding a commercial exchange.
The depth of emotive feeling
concern and kindliness sans
thought and emotion can be far
different when it is delivered by
an intimate other whose spiteful
nature is well recognized in the
spleen on display when leaving
you reeling in emotional disarray.

Those same words are bitten off
with the clear intent to wound.
The blessing is in the swift
termination on the telephone
as the linkage on the line dies.