The Crimson Aria

To you, in the box seats,

Welcome to the Storm Post Office. This is a letter about opera: oxblood textured paper, hand-drawn Jugendstil letters whose curves trail like long held notes, and a cream lithograph of a singer's profile with the sweep of a curtain across the page. Only a few notes are in antique gold; the rest is left to red. A slim program ticket peeks from one corner of the envelope. It is a Vienna night in January 1914.

Nietzsche put it bluntly: "Without music, life would be a mistake." — Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols (1889)

Here, red is not a warning; it is the color of a voice. When the aria ends, leave yourself a little time. And when you want to write, write in your own voice.

See you at the interval,

Storm Post Office

January 1914 · Vienna