well, I saw a wee bit of Massacre Boston. I cannot freely get out, exigencies. I take care of my elderly father, etc. so. arrived frazzled, with Jordan Davis finishing. good crowd and I squeezed in standing next to a big dog flopped on the floor. I asked the guy sitting nearby, is he yours? he nodded. is it okay? I'm good with dogs, so he didn't need to worry. the dog wasn't concerned that I was there. I didn't, then, have eye line to Aaron Kunin reading from his novel. I'm not really at a reading to understand anything. I don't take in by the ear very well. which is not to say I get nothing. I remember Richard Grossinger reading at Franconia. I couldn't tell you what he read but his reading PROSE really excited me. poetry qua poetry: what the fuck. immediately after that reading I was trying to write PROSE. so I didn't absorb directly, re Kunin, but was glad to hear fictional prose rendered. and he spoke of his interest in umbrellas, that sort of thing is ALWAYS manageable. David Hess read this from my shitty blog:

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- posted by Allen @ 8:16 AM

a throwaway thingie. his poetry was thoughtfully funny and quite appealing in sound. he uses rhyme. it may be the modern anti-rhyme ear we tend to have that causes us to read rhyme negatively. in his voice it sounded right, not fabricated. I actually fight the tendency toward rhyme, from having read enough pre-20th century poetry, maybe I shouldn't. I find rhymes dumping themselves upon me, but I shove them away, yet read properly, not with a thumpa thumpsa rhythm, there's more music involved. Irish traditional music used to be accompanied by piano, for instance, pounding chords on the beat, because music then was still mainly for dance. that beat is nice for dance but wearisome to listen to. De Danann and Bothy Band, etc, got much more creative with the rhythm, and ear excitement grew. I think David is on to something. David wrote to say he would read the above thingie, and I boldly declared that I would try to attend. hence and thus. I wrote as I listened, or just wrote and I don't mean to be rude but I need to focus and my ear just doesn't catch words in the air well. so Jacqueline Water read then Tracy McTague. Tracy being the mistress of the big dog, including a poem for which. I think the crowd largely knew each other. I knew Jack Kimball to nod to. Jack is a fine poet and I would always listen to (and welcome) his critical thoughts. at the break I introduced myself to D Hess, which was bold for me. I become a 52 year old tomorrow and feel funny in elder statesman mode (statesman sans state), even tho I've been to Phish concerts. I feel like I became the writer that I am 5 years ago, tho I've written seriously for 35 years. there's nothing wrong with being older. Beth and I talked with David for a while. I remember when I was going to folk concerts, many of which were located at Harvard (Paine Hall or Sanders Theatre), where alcohol is negatory. the Harvard intellectuals were slow to GET DOWN. the 1st time I saw Irish music AND had access to alcohol was spunky, hey. merely the free idea, not that one HAS to drink. the room at Wordsworth is functional, but it would be nice to have that added conviviality. I mean, if there were just coffee, that would be cool too. this isn't a complaint, just a sense that poetry lives pretty well in NON austere environments. like, you could even read it aloud at HOME!!! how can we have poetry and be relaxed? Beth wasn't feeling good so we ended up leaving pronto after Alli Warren read. before that, Joseph Torra, who I think read mainly other people's stuff and generally referred to others. that's a muscular trick to accomplish. I wanted to stay for more but Beth is my love, more than 'that'. I may attend tomorrow, see how that works.