New York, 14 January 1963

Typed letter signed (“Leonard”) to Marianne Ihlen ("My darling Marianne"), New York, 14 January 1963.

One page, 305 x 185mm, aerogram.

Still in New York, and between projects for the first time in years: “I’m glad to spend the time alone, turning the world and myself over in my mind as only a man alone can do. I don’t believe I have very much to write and I haven’t begun a new book, and even my old poems don’t please me.” He reflects on Marianne’s independence—“Your letter made me happy and very proud. I know you’ve always wanted to feel that you’re doing something on your own. I never believed you were the little milk-maid you pretended to be.”

He revels in the uncertainty before him—"I'm down to a ten dollar bill and I suppose I should be frightened but I'm not"—and takes solace in thinking about their home in Hydra, which he calls "the most beautiful." "The way we live together is better than the way people live here," though he admits, "I want to understand the lives of people in this city because someday I want to write for them."

By descent from Marianne Ihlen.