*
I spent the entire morning the next day sleeping. At this point on the trip, I am truly exhausted—body aching all over, chest caved so that it’s hard to breathe, and facial skin pale (thank God for bronzer by Dr. Hauschka’s). When I parked next to the University of Michigan to go to my reading at Shaman Drum, however, I felt ecstatic. I love universities, and the mood around the University there was really lovely—bells were tolling, busy students were walking hurriedly around. I was a little late for the reading, so half-ran to the bookstore, where, as usual even ten minutes before a reading starts, the chairs were empty. I thought to myself, This is it, this is going to be the one where only one person shows up. Happily, however, the seats filled up plus or minus (with Ray McDaniel’s students, I am sure) by the time I gave the reading. Ray gave me an absolutely terrific and thorough introduction (the best on the trip so far—no text from the web following me around like a misguided puppy). His intros are legendary in poetry circles (and his reviews for The Constant Critic are brilliantly insightful and precise). One of the things I have been thinking about a lot on this trip is the concept of “reception”—of being “received” in a new city. Ray’s introduction moved me—it was wonderful.
After I read, Ray and I chatted with the MFA students who had shown up about community. It has struck me during this trip how much of my community I developed by going to readings and generally being involved in poetry on a social level back in my early twenties. Probably about a third of my hosts on this trip I met at readings; another third I met in the context of school (teachers, peers); and probably a third I didn’t know before.
Here is a journalist I met before the reading; she writes about careers for the Washington Post. We had an interesting conversation about the current financial crisis:
Here is Ray introducing:
Three MFA students:
1 comment:
O the anticipation, O anticipation…
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