No pretending--that was fun

Shappy floated lemon slices in my hefeweizens. Sharon Mesmer & I revealed to the audience that cleanliness is feminine. I cannot find Jenny Smith's poems online but that doesn't prevent them from being wonderful. I recognized Tim P. from A. Boyer's Flckr. David K. indulged some obsessive talk re: card catalogs (one of my fave objects, disappearing) & lamented himself the transformed role of the proofreader in the Age of the Internet (he used to have to find one book per ref in the library & now proofers just search-engine, which is both great & sad for the poor shelfstuck books.) & everybody impersonating Chrissie Hynde was so cool, 'specially the Sewing Circle (well, just one of them, more like a Sewing Point, geometrically speaking) grunting and moaning "I want love...God, I'm so fucking lonely" in "Show Me." I had to leave a little bit before it was over tho, so I missed Erika Simonian.
But what I really wanted to say is that I bought on my way to the club & as I sat reading it before the show at the bar I must have laughed aloud LOUD at least seven times. & when I laugh it is not always because something is humorous but because something is right.

For instance, here is a poem:

What's at Frank's?
from American Tatts by Linh Dinh (Chax, 2005)

A fake Calder floats over Sheila's head,
Who really should be called Sheila-na-gig,
Because she's all vulva and all suds,
And because she's well-tipped each evening.
On one side of the horseshoe bar is Gummy Christ,
Well-known for his toothy grin, sucking
On a yellow Corona between throws at cricket.
On the other side of the horseshoe bar is Skinny Dave,
Who's all coked-out and skull-plugged
To a quiet walkman playing Nine Inch Nails.
A large trust fund has allowed Dave to be fulfilled
By volume after volume of the fattest sci-fi
He reads zealously while swiveled on his stool.
Dave prefers the ladies' to the mens' room,
Because you can be locked inside, although
The full-bladdered matrons are none-too-happy
Queuing outside waiting for Skinny Dave
To finish powdering his fuckin nose.
"Full pelvic undulation will help to dissolve
All neurotic personal armor," some one has written
With a Magic Marker over the broken sink.

Dude, I've been there.