Marie Gauthier

What a great time in Cambridge last night! We made good driving time, and met up with my brother, Ed, who got to experience his very first poetry reading (and I’m pretty sure was not scarred for life by it, or at least not in a bad way). It was the perfect introduction, actually. Kevin Barents began us off, and he had a wonderfully animated style that really carried us into his persona poems, and then Chloe Garcia-Roberts read. She has a soft, inflective voice which my husband compared to eating chocolate flowers. To which I’d add chocolate flowers whose centers hide little frosted barbs. I read last; the audience was very responsive and attentive and friendly — many came up afterwards to tell me how much they enjoyed my poems, which is the best, these off-the-cuff and honest reactions.

The reading was followed by mochas and long-overdue conversation with a dear college friend (thank you, Facebook!) who missed the reading but caught up with us after. Nothing could have closed my evening better.

I’m looking forward to reading more of Kevin’s & Chloe’s work out there in po-world — big thanks again to the multi-talented  Andrea Cohen, director of the Blacksmith House Poetry Series, for the invitation and getting me out into the big city, or, as Vincent would say, Busy Town. Oh so tired today, but still smiling.

[Oh, and tremendous gratitude to stepson Cassidy, who graciously fell on his sword & babysat the 8 hours we were gone. He had a hard night, poor guy.]