January 1, 2017

Realized I didn’t leave the house on New Year’s Day.

Awakened New Year’s morning by agonizing symmetrical muscle spasms in the lower thighs. Screamed with rage and pain as I tried to make it to the fridge to get something to drink. Great opening. . . .

But, lovely party with the usual suspects, plus M and D and L, minus the ailing DJ. I prepared more than twice the amount of food that was consumed–indeed, consumable-- by those present. There’s nothing in my background that suggests the Road of Excess; I suppose I found that on my own. Beef stew, pumpkin cheese cake, pistachio cake were hits; the crock-pot paella was such a disaster I washed it down the disposal before guests arrived. We watched Mariah Carey disassemble on live TV. Any actor I know could have saved the moment.

But, first email opened in the New Year is good news:


   THE BEST AMERICAN POETRY

David Lehman, Series Editor
lehmandc@gmail.com


Dear Poet,

     I am happy to report that Natasha Trethewey, guest editor of The Best American Poetry 2017, has chosen your poem “Certain Things” from The Ohio Review.  Congratulations.

     The Best American Poetry 2017 will be published by Scribner in cloth and paperback in September 2017. Each contributor will receive a modest honorarium of $100 plus a complimentary copy of both the hardcover and paperback editions of the book.

Feel myself on a cusp: I could lean back and let it go. I could keep churning the wild sea, keep climbing by toe and fingernail up the glacier wall.