
Next up was Gregor Podlogar, a Slovenian poet who offered up "The Darker Side of New York," and "Videotape."

David Lehman (below), the editor of the Best American Poetry (BAP) series followed. He read four poems, "Essay on Criticism," "God Will Provide," "Poem in the Lusty Manner," and "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning."


Cate Marvin was next. She read her poem "Muckraker."
She was followed by Tracie Morris, a fine performance/spoken word poet. She


Here is video from the night's reading, of Eileen Myles performing "No Excuse":
Matthew Rohrer read next. His poems were "Mandrake," "Disquisition on Trees," and

You have already noted the girlish beauty
of the Morning Glory,
the delicate lavender panties.
Looking around you,
as far as you can see,
plants are imprisoned.
Each morning Morning
Glories open upstairs,
out of sight.
Each night the concrete lies
like a hot compress on the dirt.
Thank you for your brief attention.
Rohrer was followed by Vijay Seshadri. He read "Memoir," which I recognized as his entry in BAP '06. He also read "This Morning," and "Guide for the Perplexed," which was the second poem he had read at the BAP '06 reading on September 21.

She read "I'm Over the Moon," "Moth Death on the Window Sill," and "White is the Color of Snow." The moon poem was great and featured the simile, "like having a bad boyfriend in a good band." Alas, I cannot find these poems on the web, but you can read four others here.

Evie Shockley followed, with three poems. I didn't catch the title from the first, the second was called "The Last Temptation," and the last was "dedicated to the people of New Orleans," and was called "Atlantis Made Easy."
Ms. Shockley was followed by a performance poet, Edwin Torres, who reminded me physically of the novelist T.C. Boyle. That's Torres on the left, Boyle on the right.



Next was Catherine Wagner. She read "I'm Total I'm All I'm Absorbed in This Meatcake," which you can also hear here, "Scary Several Light," audible here. Worth a listen. And she finished with "Everyone in the room is a representative of the world at large".




Well, gentle readers, thanks for bearing with me on this marathon recap. After the reading, I was a signature accumulation machine, getting four more poets to sign my Poetry Daily anthology (thanks Nick Flynn, Major Jackson, Matthew Rohrer, and Evie Shockley!). I also got more BAP autographs from Brenda Shaughnessy ('00), Edwin Torres ('04) and Rachel Zucker ('01). After the dust cleared, I had 23 signatures from 16 poets in 9 books. Not bad for an evening's work. And, more importantly, I had a night full of poetry.
Again, I apologize to those regular readers who may have found this 7-part recap too lengthy. I tried to spread it out over time to ease the ennui. However, I am first and foremost committed to recording my experience for myself and for the few people out there who may find use of this narrative in the future.
If you want a different perspective, the Poetry Bus blog recalls this event here. There are photos!
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