Telegram to Florence from Tripoli, Summer 1952
DEEPEST LOVE ,
DISREGARD EARLIER TELEGRAM STOP
LATIF IS A MALE NAME STOP REGRET MISLEADING YOU AND REGRET 10 OF MY 18 YEARS OF DRINK STOP
HEAT HERE HAS BAKED ME TO A DIFFERENT COLOR , AT LEAST MY HAIR IS BLACK AGAIN , STILL I GUESS I DO NOT HOPE AS WELL AS THE REST STOP
“REST STOP ” HA HA STOP
MAYBE I SHOULD TAKE A CRACK AT DOING THINGS THE WAY DON MIGUEL DOES THINGS STOP
I REGRET THAT TOO STOP
THIS IS BECOMING A COSTLY APOLOGY STOP
WILL BE IN PARIS SOON , TRY COFFEE , UNDERSTAND THAT DARK IS THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA THERE STOP
I AM , AS ALWAYS , YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT &C STOP
ENZO STOP
PS STILL DYING LAUGHING STOP
(Hand-written in ink along the bottom: “Caffeine-free Diet Coke, Lean Cuisine spag., Lean Cuisine lemon chicken, produce, smile when you pay!”)