When I was very young (and this may date me) but I remember sneaking out to go with my much older cousins to a smoky coffee house where retro-poets liked to read their poems. I remember a little round stage. I think it was dark red, as I said, I had to use a fake ID to get in the door and always hid behind my glass of coke and pretended there was rum in it.
I remember listening to poets as they read their words and thinking, do they really mean this, or are they just playing a scam. I think I decided it was a scam.
But recently, I was reading a book by L. J. Shen – and if you haven’t read any of her books, I love them! I would recommend them. She was talking about the poet Charles Bukowski. (did I mention I grew up in Los Angeles?) I bought a book of his: The Last Night of the Earth Poems
I was right back there in the dark, nursing my tepid coke and this time I didn’t need to pretend to have rum in it.
Maybe you’re not into poems, but if you are, and if you read this book, one of my favorites so far is The Man with the Beautiful Eyes.
Sue Wilder Writes 