Thursday, April 17, 2008

Ready or not

Hello there. It's Poem in Your Pocket Day.

I'm trying to figure out how to stash a poem in the tiny key pocket of my gym pants. I think I want Elizabeth Bishop's Filling Station. It begins

"Oh, but it is dirty!
--this little filling station
oil soaked, oil permeated
to a disturbing over-all
black translucency.
Be careful with that match!"

Why do I want this poem? I have no idea, and I don't have time to analyze my need for it. I discovered it in Molly Peacock's How to Read a Poem...and Start a Poetry Circle, and I've loved it ever since.

It's also Operation Teen Book Drop Day. I'm trying to figure out where to drop a copy of my book. Would the dentist's office, where I'm headed after the gym, be okay? Not exactly a teen hangout.

But look! Little Willow has put together some drop site suggestions. Dairy Queen is the big teen spot around here. Anybody want a book with that Blizzard?

Honestly, what I'd love to do is stick a copy of Letters From Rapunzel right next to the Green Fairy Book in a public library. Because I often cite that book (and all the rest in the series) as my introduction to fairy tales. But I doubt many libraries still carry those ancient tomes.

You'd think I would have figured out how to celebrate both of these events long before this morning. I do have clean socks to wear to the gym. That's something.

Oh, no! It's also National Cheeseball Day! And do I have anything prepared for that?

What are you doing (ready or not) today?

6 comments:

  1. Not to be all braggy about it, but *we* have The Green Fairy book here at WPL. We have all the old hardbacks in that series, and about a year ago, I got some newer paperbacks. Excellent stuff. :)

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  2. I'm dropping a copy of your book, among others, today. :)

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  3. I'm dropping Un Lun Dun and Kaimira Sky Village in the Wendy's parking lot. What Fun!

    In my pocket I'm carrying Katherine Anne Porter's "Another Sarah".

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  4. Adrienne! Brag all you want--that's good news. Hardbacks and new paperbacks--woo-hoo!

    Erin, that's so wonderful. That just makes my day, knowing that. Really. Makes it! :)

    Cloudscome, oh yeah! Wendy's is a total teen hangout. And your poem? Fabulous. Which reminds me---I need to move my poem from my other pants pocket to the pair I have on now. Wouldn't want to be caught poem-less!

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  5. Ooh, I like that poem, too. Oddly beguiling.

    I wish I were celebrating all these days, but I'm not very organized. It makes me sad that I'm not prepared with a poem in my pocket today.

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  6. Cheeseball day. If only I had realized.

    I dropped the third Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book at the bus stop in from of the library because the middle and high school kids walk by it every day. I stood it up on the bench with a note, Free to Good Home on it. When I drove by three hours later, it was gone.

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