Brandi & Becca at the Myopic/Poetry Reading

Because no one was reading her own work, the room took on the feel of a group of friends discussing an absent, mutual friend with general good humor and an occasional wink. Klaver tackled the verbal gymnastics of reading Gertrude Stein’s “Stanzas in Meditation” while Tardi moved his head in rhythm with the words behind her. When she reached the end of the stanzas with the line “these stanzas are done,” she spoke with genuine relief, and the laughter that followed was not at the expense of the poem, but rather with the enjoyment of having heard its trickiness. Tardi complained he was drawing all the love poems after reading Karen Volkman’s “Casanova in Love” and Ted Berrigan’s “Words of Love” in rapid succession. Homan’s face had the look of greeting an old friend each time she drew a new poem. --Maren Robinson, Literago