Friday Night

began with dinner -- Miso soup, California rolls, white wine -- in the excellent company of Angelo Verga. Afterwards we headed to the West Side Y and met up with Wendy Wisner, her husband Danny, and their beautiful new baby Benjamin. Glenn Raucher proved to be the consummate host -- he greeted me warmly and instantly put me at ease. For each of the three poets who read that night he wrote thoughtful introductions. He had spent a lot of time with our poems and books -- he was very kind and very flattering. The podium was set in front of a fireplace, the chairs in a semicircle, and the lighting was soft. The audience was a good one, very attentive and that energy always flows back to those reading. I read after Wendy who gave a flawless reading of her evocative poems. My reading went without a hitch -- I wasn't nervous at all, most likely a combination of spending time with old friends and Glenn's gift for putting his readers at ease -- and I was actually happy with my delivery. Afterwards everyone was invited to linger and most (all?) did -- the wine selection and spread was delicious, I'm sure that helped and of course there was beautiful Benjamin to gaze on too. All in all this reading was one of my favorites. Big thanks go to Wendy for recommending this series.