Poetry reading

Well! Last night I did a 20-minute reading of twelve of my poems for a small group that meets one Tuesday a month. I've read single poems there three times (open mike) and was invited to be a feature poet -- a first for me.

I thought I was perfectly calm. Ha. It hit me when I got up on stage. Turned red, of course, and kept bumping into the teetery mike. It went well, all things considered. Being winter break at the college, the crowd was smaller than usual, and quieter. I missed the usual guffaws when I read my bawdy poems. That was a little disconcerting. But I soldiered on, seeing smiles and nods of encouragement. They weren't all bawdy. I spread out into a couple of more serious ones, and two nature poems including the grackle sestina I'm so proud of. I survived, ate a cookie, received a nice little gift from the school, came home and had five shots of Glenfiddich in front of the TV. Yum.