Monday, October 03, 2005

Making the selection

Starting to think about what I'm going to read on Saturday night. I am definitely reading the two best poems from my Provincetown week ("Fog, Provincetown" and "Hold"). I haven't sat down with the ol' stopwatch and timed them yet, so I'm not sure how much of my allotted 8 minutes that will take, but I'm guessing somewhere in the vicinity of 3 total, which leaves me with enough time for several more. I was going to read "Ars Erotica" but found out today that at least one of the students I supervise is likely to show up, which makes me feel a little bit weird about reading a sex poem. Is it just me, or is it a whole heck of a lot easier to read sex poems to strangers than to people you actually know?

When you're putting together a reading (if you do such things), how much do you think about who's likely to attend? Does that influence what you choose to read? If so, how?

The weather forecast is for a high of 60 degrees on Saturday, and sunny. Which sounds lovely, but pushes me over to Plan B in the "what to wear" department, as the light summery stuff is right out. (Which is, of course, as it should be in October...)

Today's dose of kitteny cuteness for your viewing pleasure:

4 comments:

Lorna Dee Cervantes said...

Is one of those the Race Point poem? I always liked that poem just as it is. "Big ass mola!" (was that it?)

Lorna Dee Cervantes said...

I was very very sorry to read about your kitty.

Strange how these spirits enter our lives.

Anne Haines said...

Lorna, the Race Point poem is yet another one -- and maybe I'll think about reading that one too! ("Big ass mola mola" is just fun to say.) I'll sit down, probably tomorrow night or Thursday night, and read through a bunch of them and time them out and see how they all feel. I like to read poems that feel alive to me, so we'll see which ones do.

And thanks for the kitty sympathy. He was a good old guy who had a long happy life, for sure.

Trista said...

You know, I've pretty much decided that I need to read what I need to read regardless of who's going to be there. Of course I was forced into this state of mind when I decided to read a very sexual (and a bit more than darkly sexual) poem and my parents showed up and I had nothing else to read because I had no idea they were coming. They wanted to surprise me, but I think they got the bigger surprise! Since then, I feel like I've crossed some line I can't cross back and just what I want when I want to...