Road trip precis

I'm in Toronto as I blog, a few hours away from boarding a train to Montreal en route to Halifax. An incandescent little trip it's been. Terrific, well-attended readings in Montreal and Toronto, both of which featured a trio of refreshingly varied writers. But perhaps the best of all was yesterday. On barely 3 hours sleep, I boarded a 6:30 am bus for Peterborough. I was greeted there by two teachers from Peterborough Collegiate Vocational School (a high school), who very thoughtfully provided English muffin egg sandwiched and a tall black coffee. We then went to the school, where I proceeded to read and talk to four different groups of students (7 classes in all, I believe). I have always loved events like this. The audience is challenging, because you can't take their interest in what you're doing for granted. But it's also a delightful audience because they have very few preconceptions of what's what and many of them are very eager to listen and learn and they often have piercing observations and thoughtful questions to make. I wasn't disappointed yesterday. Some very sharp young adults in that place. And, astonishingly, I offloaded 25 books--some to teachers, but most to students. I actually didn't have enough copies of Track & Trace, Unsettled, or Anything but Hank! and will have to mail some when I get home. One more strike against the naysayers who think poetry has no public.

All for now. I'll be posting a whack of audio after I get home.