“Embracing Grace, or How to Really Enjoy a Poetry Reading” by Jason McKinley Williams

Gratefully gone are the days
I sat waiting my turn,
my red pen uncapped,
listening to other readers,
annotating, grading every line
with equal measures of
smugness and intimidation,
brashness and fear.

Now, I hear behind every word
sounds I share with you:
scraping erasers,
thrashing penstrokes,
crumpling pages,
backspace keys cracking far harder than required.

I hear behind each word the whisper of its rejected forebears
the “mumbled,” “muttered,” “breathed,” and “said,”
displaced by “murmured.”
I hear the exhalation
of slipping the pen or cursor into your stanzas,
then easing it away,
surrendering, surprised, or just satisfied.

These sounds I cherish,
and I love to hear them swelling from your voice.

-Jason McKinley Williams

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