“Reading poetry to strangers is a very intimate act. It’s kind of like a poetic lap dance.”
–Billeh Nickerson
OK, I’ve gotten a little bit better at reading my poetry aloud in a teaching context. At young authors conferences or school visits, I share my poems and talk about the process, and that’s all good.
But now I’m lining up several events where I’ll be reading my poems for kids and teens to kids, adults, or both at the same time. And the entire point of the reading or performance is to read my poems. MY poems. Ack. My stomach is churning as I write this. It’s exciting and terrifying at the same time. Suddenly, approaching bookstore managers doesn’t seem like the scariest thing on my to-do list.