The Day After

This is a picture from the grounds of Forest Hills Cemetery. It is a beautifully maintained historic site with an amazing church, which is where I read yesterday with Paul Hostovsy, Dan Tobin, and Afaa M. Weaver. I definitely felt like the newbie reading with such established poets. But I was certainly happy to be in their company.

In particular, I enjoyed about Afaa’s reading because I was reminded what it means to be prepared. Afaa took time to read poems inspired by what’s going on in Haiti,. He also read poems in honor of MLK Jr. Day. I was so worried about finding a babysitter and being on time that I completely forgot to consider those factors. I feel it was a lost opportunity for me to add another element to the reading. But I take it as a learning opportunity to broaden my perspective for next time.

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Today, it's snowing in Massachusetts, and the North Shore is getting hammered yet again. The winter has been relatively mild, but this was one of those mornings of shoveling heavy, wet snow. Shoveling is equivalent to a gym workout, so I've crossed the gym visit off my list today.

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Dropped the kids off at day care so I can get some well-deserved "me" time. Will go to Starbucks later today. I must finish my MCC grant application, and I'd like to work on a new poem.

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Backordered copies of Underlife are now shipping from Amazon.com! Woo hoo!

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I'm taking some time today to reflect on Martin Luther King Jr. today. It's been a year with President Obama in office. Elsewhere, the people of Haiti continue to dig out of the rubble. So many, many thoughts are running through my head. Thinking about The Dream today.

Happy Monday!