So I read tonight. Finally. Ian called my name and while I walked up to the podium, I was joking with him about how to pronounce my last name. Then I got there and put my paper down and stared at it. My lovely friends yelled, “Virgin!” as loud as humanly possible, because apparently we’re doing that now. I was like, “Thanks, because I wasn’t nervous enough already.”
Then one of my friends was like, “Is that how tall you really are?” which is something a professor said to me this week. Everyone kind of giggled. It made me less nervous. He’s amazing and deserves a cookie.
I was like, “So, Mason liked this, and when I showed it to Heffernan, he smiled. So this probably isn’t complete crap…” And then I started reading. And I was shaking and my voice was shaking and I was like, “Dammmit why did I have to pick such a long poem…” (I read “Airport Goodbyes.”) But I made it through. And there was applause. And I took my seat.
After forum, James came up and he was like, “Great poem. Is it original? Yeah? I really liked it. Bayes said – I was over the moon at this – “A beautiful poem read beautifully,” and when I got back to my room, one of my professors sent me this e-mail:
I tried to find you after the Forum but had to rush off, so I could get home and finish grading. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that the poem you read tonight was outstanding. Seriously. You should submit it to some journals ASAP.
Holy crap, life is amazing.
PS: I read barefoot. I’m awesome.
