Reading Series, Basement Room
A poem about a basement reading, bad chairs, good timing, and the moment a room becomes worth having entered.
WHY IS THIS IN THE FILE?
Nobody took responsibility quickly enough.
the folding chairs lean
toward the drain
someone has taped
a handwritten arrow
to the boiler
the featured poet
thanks the room
for coming out
in this weather
the room does not answer
above us
glasses knock together
at the bar
below us
a pipe coughs once
then a woman in the back row
laughs at the exact right line
and for ten seconds
the whole basement
is architecture
Ellis Crowe
Poet and field recorder of buses, readings, waiting rooms, bad microphones, and other public situations that outlive their dignity.
STATUS: UNRULY
“Normal” was considered and rejected.
KNOWN ASSOCIATES: readers, loiterers, people who should know better.
PUSH THE WEIRD BUTTON
A clerk has been notified. They are furious.