the best love letter

"There is very little evidence that [Rilke] was interested in breakfasts (except for one occasion when he first discovered in 1901 a California health food — Quaker Oats — and enthusiastically sent a packet to his future wife, with the recipe: Boil water, add oats)."

--from Robert Hass's intro to The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke

Hahaha. It amuses me to picture Rilke sending this to his future wife. Who needs poetry when you have oats?

In all seriousness, though, if someone mailed me a packet of oats (complete with flawless instructions), I'd probably consider marrying him, too.