Poetically Speaking

I'm seeing an old friend today. Someone from way back when I lived in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and the prospect of spending the rest of my life in my place of birth seemed like a perfect way to envision my future. I had a serious boyfriend at the time, a poet, a true wordsmith who epitomized all the tortured ways of someone whose life is consumed by a phrase, a stanza, a feeling, an idea. He and I ultimately went our separate ways as he left to attend graduate school for writing in Iowa and I went to Rochester to pursue a master's in photography. Truthfully, I couldn't imagine being married to a poet despite his many gifts and good qualities. Too insular for my outgoing self.

But through him I met some interesting people including the poet and writer  David St. John. Today David is giving a reading at a library not too far from where we live and I plan to attend. It's been a long time since I last saw him, but in our mid-twenties we shared some leisurely fun-filled meals when we thought ourselves all grown up. I am excited to hear him read some of his incredible poems and I will try to find a way to say hello. Happy to know that his talents have served him well over the years. Something all artists hope for in the end.

David St. John after his reading at the Katonah Library