Sitting out a poetry reading
I gush over its delivery.
I mean some people have that rich
throaty unctuous delivery
that either makes you remember
all they said or to the contrary
you're so intensely and sensually
involved in the physicality
of their presence that their words
evaporate into the ether
in fact don't matter at all.
I mean the voices of the likes of
Deepak Chopra or Joseph Campbell.
In my case, at the end of a recitation
I can't even remember
how I sounded or what I said
and the applause is usually muffled
by my high blood pressure
making my ears ring or hear
only a steady rush of air, something
like white noise.
Past the handshaking
and shoulder patting all I know
of the latter is they are harder
and stronger than the bravos.
Well, I made the right decision
not to attend my virtual Nobel prize
nor accept more virtual Pulitzers.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem