poem of the day 11.10.09

as the poet speaks

she sketches pictures of books
in notebooks
very defined and detailed
as the poet speaks.

she closes her eyes and tries
to make a good show of it
while the poet reads his poetry
and talks about whitman
and social reform.

the poet talks about the awards
that he’s won
for fiction and for non-fiction
while she text messages a friend
some triviality
while she writes down her
grocery list
and checks her voice mail.

the poet talks about his charity work
with kids in the ghetto
with the public zoo
with the sad and aging
as she yawns
and asks the person next to her
where the restrooms are
when it is she thinks
that they’ll be serving
dinner
at this meeting
where the poet
is the key note speaker
and such a big, big draw.