an occasional poem on the receipt of a message; or...

thence, monday, as, with slimy bottom teat,
the snail must onward squirm, secure his home,
and then return, from out that safe cocoon,
sun-blessed, anxious to wend his molluscine
way, i, to shire of hertford must repair
for week-end familiar to partake,
then on, to cam, her smooth redoubt,
to fortify, on this meek hill, where now
i sit, composing lines miltonic, where
your visit would, communing, wax divine.