[Terese Coe]

Thank you so much for that encomium, Rick! It was good to see you there.

I missed some people too, but was overjoyed with the crowd. I didn't even know a dear friend from our undergraduate days was coming (she was in town from Missouri, which I didn't know), so when she walked in the door of Otto's, I was floored! She's the friend who was in the "Emergency Room" poem at New Verse News. She said she'd emailed me but maybe it was one of those gmail things where everything gets bundled up and one is hidden. Whatevs.

We couldn't really have fit another soul in that room, so don't let your heart break...

Chris Childers was a thing to behold, and I mean that in the best possible sense. Adept satirist, one of the best I've heard in the metrical crowd. My kids and one of their partners and my granddaughter all came, so I had to sweeten the poem choices so as not to frighten the 7-year-old with any horrific subjects (like Mary Stuart). It was her first poetry reading, and she held up bravely for a while. Chris C. knew they would have to cut out early to make sure the child didn't get antsy. So I read first, which worked out well.

Anton and Wendy were extraordinarily courteous and kind, and a lot of the open mic crowd were fine too.