July 17: Poetry Reading

Next Monday night, I'm giving a poetry reading.  I'm a little nervous.  I haven't read my poetry in front of an audience for a really long time--since last summer, I believe.  I don't get too many invitations these days to read because it's been quite a few years since my book was published.

I remember the days after I received the first copies of my book.  I would sit in my living room at night with the book in my hands, thinking, "I bloody wrote this."  (The "bloody" is a Yooperism.)  It was a beautiful thing.  The cover slick and glossy, and my words on thick, beautiful paper.  People wanted to read me, invited me to classrooms and libraries to talk about the craft of poetry.  It was a really great time in my life.

I love being in front of an audience.  I love having people laugh at my jokes, sit in silence as I read a poem and then, at the end, collectively exhale.  There's nothing better than having a group of people hanging on my every word.  It's happened before.

That's what Saint Marty's hoping for on Monday night.