Distances. <br /> <br />The L.A. poetry scene is <br />all about distances. <br /> <br />The distance of the suburbs from <br />one another, separated by miles of <br />freeway, <br /> <br />With no real downtown section <br /> <br />And the distances of the people <br />from each other, too, <br /> <br />Separated by miles of fences they have <br />built around themselves. <br /> <br />It is hard for any sense of literary <br />community to develop here. <br /> <br />At the poetry reading <br />I am wearing black. <br /> <br />I am there to pick up some manuscripts <br />for publication in THE NEW PRESS, a <br />poetry magazine for which I am the <br />regional editor. <br /> <br />There are about 35 people in <br />attendance, all of them poets <br />except two. <br /> <br />There are featured readers followed <br />by an open reading. The features <br />read first. Then the other poets read <br />in the order they signed up. <br /> <br />Each poet leaves as soon as he has <br />finished reading. <br /> <br />The remaining poets talk loudly <br />among themselves and ignore the <br />poet who is reading. <br /> <br />Because I signed up last, I am <br />scheduled to read last. <br /> <br />By the time it is my turn, there <br />is nobody there but the two <br />audience members who are not poets. <br /> <br />She is a substitute school teacher <br />and he is a computer analyst. <br /> <br />It is their first day in California <br />and they are interested in seeing <br />some plays. <br /> <br />Outside the street is empty and <br />we are the only people on the <br />sidewalk. <br /> <br />I ask them for a ride home. <br /> <br />On the way, I sincerely thank them <br />for coming out. <br /> <br />“You don’t know how important you <br />are, ” I tell them. <br /> <br />“Without an audience, poetry <br />is nothing! ”<br /><br />Theresa Haffner<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/open-reading/
