Oh, look at you all.
Hello!
So nice to see you on this beautiful evening.
Thank you for that gorgeous introduction, Raquel.
Raquel and I have somehow made this wonderful tradition now
of just seeing each other just all over random places
in the country.
So now we have pictures on the coast of Oregon,
and now in Tucson, so now we're just going to keep doing that.
Tonight's reading, they asked me to read
for 40 minutes, which is a little longer than I usually
read.
But I'm going to do it.
And I'm going to read 15 poems, and I'm telling you that so
that you're comfortable with that number,
and you can count down.
You don't like what you're hearing, you can kind of,
OK, it's about to end, and if you really
like what you're hearing you'd be like,
OK, there's like five more!
So, and I also, I'm going to read primarily from two things.
I'm going to read about half and a half.
The first from Bright Dead Things.
I think I'll read seven poems from Bright Dead Things,
and then I will read eight from the new book, which
is coming out in August.
So I wanted you to be a part of those new poems, as well.
OK.
Thank you so much for having me.
I cried yesterday coming here.
I thought, 50,000 poetry books in that room, 50,000.
That's amazing.
And it was overwhelming, and wonderful,
and just makes me think thank God for poets.