The Nice Thing About Strangers
Creative Non-Fiction Short Stories. :) Travel, Oldsters, Love, and Compassion.
Caught, Captured, Heaven-Forbid Memorialized.
At first, the poet looks like all the other men at the table. He turns toward the PowerPoint slide of the painting that the panel was meant to discuss. The audience waits to see what the famous poet thinks of it, to compare his impressions against their own. They wait to be bolstered, to be humbled. The poet talks about Europe instead. He talks about himself. The audience waits for him to share their impression–until the moderator interrupts.
As the moderator rambles on and on, the poet goes quiet with polite and perturbed silence. Then he scans the crowd for a moment, then he begins to play with his pen. He drags it in loops across his notebook on the table, obscured by his water glass and a pitcher as well.
Glory me. Is he writing? Is the poet writing now? In front of everyone? And the spectators stop looking at the slides, stop listening to the moderator, and escape into a quiet panic. Later they may hunt for their shadows in the new work of this obviously perceptive author.
Glory me. What if we are entering a poem at this very moment…?
–Hastings, Nebraska.
The Nice Thing About Strangers 
Just seeing the name Hastings brings back many good memories. I could probably write a poem about them 🙂
I had many fine years in that tiny town!
Maybe…
There are worse fates. At least it’s not a Caroline Lamb thing…
I really like that! I must try to drop by more often.
Please do, Safia! Welcome and nice to see you!
Fabulous photos and thought provoking post as always x The poet is always writing whether physically or in his head ~ I find I never stop and so I now consider myself a poet! Today has been magical as I drove through he Cotswolds I saw fields of blue Linseed, yellow rapeseed, red poppies and golden earth. I saw a dry stone waller at work and a thatcher and drove through a little market town with its market in full flow. I just had to stop the car and let the words swim round in my head. What a great adventure life is!
Wow! Yes, that’s a wonderful description and a poem most certainly! 🙂
Great photo…………..sorry that is all I have today my head is throbbing baby Summer as been crying a lot and I have just got her to settle……………