Wake Up and Smell the Poetry!

Can't tell you how much fun I had reading at Wake up and Smell the Poetry! It's a public access television show hosted by Cheryl Perreault and produced at the HCAM Studios in Hopkinton, MA.

(Cheryl Perreault and me)

With the live studio audience, it was easy to forget about the TV cameras. The audience was warm and friendly, and devoted! Not easy to get up at 10 a.m. for poetry. We also were treated to music by two talented musicians, Bethel Steele and Ashley Jordan. I think the mix of poetry and music was the perfect way to ease into the day.

And two of my good friends, Jim and Nancy, came out to hear me read--very cool.


So after the event, I raced into Boston to catch the afternoon poetry session at the Boston Book Fest.

The session "Poetry of Our Times" featured poets Ellen Dore Watson, Ed Hirsch, and Elizabeth Alexander, and is one of the many poetry events happening across the state as part of the Mass Poetry Festival. What I didn't count on was the blocked off streets in Back Bay due to a visit by President Barack Obama. Ugh. So I made it there late, but I was able to see some of Ed Hirsch's reading and all of Elizabeth Alexander's.

Seeing Elizabeth was well worth the trip.