"Taking Heart"

That's the title of the book of poetry that Mary Ellen and I have published. We'll be reading from it this afternoon at Lavender Inkwell, our neighborhood bookstore. And then there's that blasted party at my apartment afterwards.....

We have absolutely no idea how many people will come. Many have said they planned to, so we've cooked a ton of hors d'oeuvres, bought two cases of wine, and I've set up folding chairs here and there. My apartment is clean. We know what poems we are going to read and we've even practiced somewhat.

Mary Ellen and I went to the bookstore yesterday to look over the space. Good thing we did because they were going to put us in a back room that could hold maybe ten people.....they thought we'd do the reading in two parts: my friends listening to me, her friends listening to her. We have some of the same friends....it just wouldn't work for us. So we're making them rearrange some furniture...a fair exchange for the advertising they promised us that didn't get done. And I decided to read my poem "Two Straight Chicks" after all.

I'm reminding myself today of the pure joy of arriving at this point of my life. I'm going to have fun and read my heart out even if there's only one person in the room.

Here's the "Two Straight Chicks" poem I wrote in response to several people wondering why we would choose a bookstore slanted toward gay/lesbian readers.....

Two Straight Chicks


Mostly we stand tall
balancing books on our heads
full of ideas we coax into poetry.

Curves in all the right places,
we crave the company of women,
love the men who pepper our lives.

Our partnered neighborhood welcomes us,
harbors us in friendship and diversity
we wish others could share.

Oh, no, we are not gay.
Only sometimes, often when we least expect it,
we’ll find ourselves happy.

.....this poem is not in "Taking Heart".....which you can find at www.buybooksontheweb.com if you're interested in checking out some of our other poems or even buy yourself a copy!

I'll let you know how it goes....(and, yes, Denise....I will feel you standing by me.)