Michelle Tea read at City Lights this month.
Brandon Brown put on the last Zeal. It was the best set of poetry events I ever went to. The sort of poetry read here made poets who had never read to the public in decades come out and read. I’m alluding to Larry Kearney.
I met K- at a bar in South Park. I introduced myself to her because of the orchid she put into her hair. The plan was to meet friends there and then go to Cirque du Soleil’s Allegria. I’m sure a friend of mine was setting the two of us up. He gave me a ticket with her last name in it.
This is what I wrote in my journal:
“16 December 2003
From the Nova to the tent set up for Cirque du Soleil, a young woman talked to me in an excited way. K- mentioned all sorts of places: Spain, Switzerland. She knows quite a few languages – enough to get by. She sat in my seat for a bit just to chat… She wrote her numbers and email on a sheet of paper.”
On New Year’s Eve K- just arrived by cab from the airport from a flight from New York at about eleven-thirty. At midnight she was my first ever New Year’s kiss. For one reason or another girlfriends in the past had been back East for the holidays, but here was someone who made every effort to see me.
This month, I also finished my translation of Plato’s Ion. After the translation, I appended a few of my poems.
Here is one of the poems:
Lips A gentle one A nibble Dry lips Moist lips A quick lick With a tongue tip That presses, caresses, Another tongue tip Surprised teeth Bitten, licked lips Tongue lash Electric bliss French kiss Wet cheeks Last kiss "Later. Tonight." Hurry. Quick. Last Kiss Last Kiss Last Kiss Raspy Breathe Last Kiss