Day 5 - The Snack That Smiles Back

So far this residency has been a lot of fun. Exhausting, but fun. Each time I come here, I try my best to step out of my sort of anti-social shell. I'm usually not very talkative and have a hard time getting to know people. I think that's true of most writers, at least the ones here. It's so easy to talk to people here though, and I've spent all my free time so far in the company of at least one other writer just talking or going out to eat or having champagne at the nightly receptions.

Yesterday, we heard Kazim Ali read, which was an experience. He's a very passionate, sensual reader. The tension in the room during his reading was fairly thick. The day before, I'd had to write a poem with eleven questions and a narrative running between the questions. I tried repeatedly to write that poem, but then at the last minute I decided to take a humorous approach to it. Around Murray, I'm addressed as the, "Who folded my towels??" girl. Or, "Someone's been in here!" when, after an evening out, I returned to my room and was startled to find everything neatly in its own place and folded tidily.

Which I then had to tell my friends about, because I felt so ridiculous and found it pretty funny once I recalled, oh yeah, that was probably the maid. Which I actually didn't know they did here, because you don't get the option. There are no Do Not Disturb signs. Anyway, getting back on topic here, I wrote my question poem about a paranoid girl coming back to her motel room and finding everything messed with. The night after Kazim's reading, however, I decided that I wanted to take the narrative from that poem and make a longer poem about a girl that falls creepily in love with the faceless person folding her towels. It's pretty ridiculous, and not my usual style, but I actually really like it, and I think it's going to be one of the poems I read on Friday.

We have also been talking about voice, and I think if I can pull off the voice I want to use for the reading, the results will be very interesting. I'm pretty excited about it, but, at the same time, I'm not, because that will be my last night in Murray, and I will be very sad to go on Saturday. I love being here, being in this environment, and with these people. It's hard to find time and motivation to write at home, but it's so easy here! Anyway, I better wrap this up, because I've got to head to my workshop soon. Then it's a craft lecture, my first meeting for the New Madrid field study, a meeting with my mentor, Carrie, to discuss my objective for the semester, and then a nice break where I think I just might take a nice long nap before tonight's reading.