What Happened Today
or three people I met on the bench
1)
Woman reading Victor Frankl.
She had a teacher who told her to read
Man’s Search for Meaning every
ten years. This is her third reading.
2)
Reader of my poems named Maude
(love the name Maude) who came to a zoom
class a while ago and lives near Ithaca.
She wrote asking if she could meet me on the bench
when she comes to New York. Today we did.
Maude was excellent. I’ll see her again, and maybe
meet her two sisters. One is a carpenter.
3)
Man smoking a cigar. He asked if his cigar
bothered me. It did not. I asked who
he was. He wrote the play “Call Me Izzy”
about a gritty poetic abused wife.
I’d wanted to see the play with Jean Smart
but didn’t. (Heard it’s wonderful.) He’s bringing it to
Los Angeles (go if you’re there!)
One day we’ll be able to see it on HBO.
I like the name Maude too. This morning I was so tired that I first read her sister was a caterpillar.
Bench Marks
That could be a title for one of your collections.