The Clean Part is a Very Good Part

We had an amazing reading for an intimate crowd at Tugboat last night. Sarah Fox, Paula Cisewski & Juliet Patterson are all such incredible poets. Many thanks to them for trekking down from Minneapolis to bring their poetry to us. They are wonderful people in addition to being so talented & I love the way they interact through their readings, reading each other’s poems & getting up to assist in multi-voiced poems. Sarah read a great new poem revolving around the Jack & the Bean Stalk fable, Juliet read what is possibly my favorite poem in her book, “From the Velocities,” Paula read a stunning new poem called “Something Blue” & a poem she’d written collaboratively with my dear friend Allison Titus. It was raining & the steady sound of raindrops in the background created a wonderfully calming atmosphere to the event.

I forgot to take pictures so this morning I hired Daniel Day Lewis & Michelle Pfeiffer to play the roles of Juliet, Sarah, Paula, Zach & I.

The mysterious, alluring Sarah Fox reading her mysterious, alluring poems.

Sarah emoting as she read.

Zach Schomburg (seen here wearing a hat) introducing Paula.

Paula Cisewski taking the podium to read.

A drawing I made of Paula while she was reading. i don't think I got the eyes quite right, but it's a decent likeness.

Zach during a brief break in the readings.

Juliet Patterson pausing between poems.

After the reading we went out for some drinks & conversation. Oh, but did we have a lovely time.

Paula & I discussing the state of contemporary poetry.

Zach & Sarah joking about something. (I wasn't in on the joke)

Zach & Paula having a shared moment of reverance for James Tate.

Juliet & I considering how she should handle her barside admirers.