Monday, May 16, 2011

notes toward an autobiography by others, part 10

untitled

this afternoon
i thought of the acid
that has been festering
in the fridge for months
but instead
i took a nap

when I woke,
i had one of those headaches
creeping up the back of my skull
which you only get from sleeping
too much in the middle of the day

-- Heidi E. Cooper

Late last year I attended a small press gathering at Berkeley City College. After I’d walked around the tables and bought a few wares, I sat to chat with a friend, my back to the table where people had put out giveaways. A small young woman with a pixie cut came in and dropped a stack of a tiny photocopied chapbook. I saw this out of the corner of my eye. When she stepped away I scooped up a copy and dropped it in my bag.

When I read the poems I nodded along to “untitled // this afternoon / i thought of the acid …” Totally, I thought to myself. This is so me.

I wrote to Ms Cooper, asking her if I could put the poem up on my blog. She said I could. “I had that small free pile sitting out for about 10 minutes before snatching them all up myself to hand out directly to folks,” she wrote me. “I am almost certain you are the only person who snagged one while they were sitting on the freebie table.”

Well. Happy happenstance!

source: A Collection of Poetry & Prose & Photos, a self-published chapbook by Heidi E. Cooper

No comments: