Tuesday, June 23rd, early morning at Drew, waiting for coffee to brew…

It’s really good to be back here, although, in that weird dorm/campus way, only the color of the grass and trees have changed. I could take a picture of my room this time around, or I could repost the picture from January and no one would ever know. Seeing everyone again is really good, and I can’t wait to dive into the writing workshops. Last night was the colloquium, in which each faculty member shares a poem they love and some thoughts about it. They pretend this is for us, but they are so into each other, reaching over to grab books and write down names and look at notes. That’s so great to witness though—these lives lived in poetry.

The Mundane

I remembered everything I needed except my ethernet cable. Joy. I tried fighting with the wireless system, then hauled my jittery, email-deprived myself to the store for a new cable. Ahhhhhhh. Although an email I’m hoping for hasn’t come through yet, it was still good to be able to check obsessively.

The Profound

I’d known since this spring that one of the other poets had been in an accident, but only know found out how serious. Although she was revived, she died on the way to the hospital, and, although it was reattached, she lost a hand. And she’s here, and she’s HERE, because the poetry matters so much that one just does it. And because the poetry is consolation and healing and a nonnegotiable necessity.

Which makes my sad little heartbreak seem nearly inconsequential. Except last night, when I was here alone with no sweetie to call to exchange sweet “good nights.” I did have a whole new pile of poems by my poets to read, and that’s nearly the same thing, and that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

The Minutiae

Forced myself up and onto my bike early this morning, because I hauled the thing all the way here. I won’t say how far I rode, although it was farther than all last summer combined, after a knee injury in May. And I won’t say how long it took me. I will say that my knee was killing me, but improved greatly after I raised my seat a half inch. Tomorrow, farther and maybe a little faster. Maybe. It is certainly a lot easier to ride when I can take off from the dorm door and not have to load the bike and drive it somewhere, and when there just isn’t traffic so I don’t have to worry about being hit every few minutes.

Today at 2:30 I find out who my mentor will be this semester and get my workshop schedule. What ho, here we go…