There were about 40 of us at the poetry reading last night, hardy souls who ventured out into the cold to support fellow writers and have our worlds enlarged by words.

Two friends read, mostly from their latest work: Michele Wolf from Peacocks on the Streets and Chloe Yelena Miller from Perforated.

I remember listening to Michele read from another book years ago. I felt the same last night as I did on that day, as if I seeing a newborn world, softened edges, scattered light.

Last night, I was sitting next to Suzanne, my oldest, herself a writer, someone who sighed, as I did, at the perfect phrases. That was poetry, too.

(Broken Star Quilt by Elda Strahm, photographed at the Renwick Gallery 2/24/26)