Enga mellom fjella

My reading went fine. Next?

Me, me, me!

Echoing my "Speak soft my name" poem...

It went well. Over thirty came. Kathy Kopp read first (in spite of having pneumonia). I started from the back with "I, Katrina" in a loud-like-a-hurricane voice, crown and scepter... I got their attention!

Then Parris (long bearded and quirky; he had introduced Kathy as well and actually did the illustrations in her book) introduced me. I continued (without scepter and crown, dressed in basic black shoes, pants, shirt and coat with a red scarf) with "bargain basement bin" (think Tulsa and humorous-serious), "Speak soft my name" (soft, crescendo, sultry, surprising), "Once in Iceland" (straight forward imagery) for my friend Kate and the very soft and hopeful "In the midst of silence" I wrote for Shaziane Codrington.

Shannon, dressed in her 80's outfit complete with purple-auburn hair, introduced my chapbook. (She and Parris were two of the four who chose the poems).

I read in order: "Walk among these hills", "Crossing Quicksand" (Wilton and his girlfriend Erika in the audience), "In flight", "Yaktracks", "Frames" (Lorin's brother Marshall was there), "Questions" (Kathy was right in front... perfect as poem is whiny...). I ended with "Bridge players" which I should re-title "King of hearts".

I did well. How do I know? When Nancy, who is allergic to poetry, radiates and says she loved it... .

Also, I didn't bore folks.

It's good that Kathy and I presented together. A smaller crowd would've been disappointing. We got different ages and backgrounds and pulled from a larger pool of readers. This is always good.

Anyhoo... no idea when/where I next present but I feel confident I could do it again... if I had the right audience!

Someday... England.
48.446