Who ever talked
Me into Sunday’s nightmare?
What ever was I
Thinking when I said I would?
Where ever will I
Unearth the courage I need?
When ever will I
Find the time to choose wisely?
Why ever did I
Agree to this foolishness?
How ever will I
Survive a public reading?
And maintain my dignity?
Aroil in Pain 
A public reading! Wow! You will be wonderful.
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I will be catatonic! Mostly I am trying to figure out what I want to read! Most of my work is so short, that there won’t be time to get too nervous. And, to be fair, the venue is rather small and the reading is mostly poets associated with my mother and her co-authors in promotion of their seasonal anthology of short poems. I don’t expect a hostile crowd.
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Many years ago I read one of my children’s stories for a group of high schoolers and teachers. I hadn’t bargained for the sheer terror of reading something original to a crowd. I mean, I was a teacher, I read things aloud all the time. No big deal, right? Holy cow it was like sending one of my children to school for the first time and hoping they didn’t flunk out on day one. All went well, but it was nerve wracking.
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Are you going to read this poem?
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I think not. I’ve spent much of the last two evenings trying to choose a primary, a secondary and two alternates, depending on what other people read. This one may be a last desperation resort if all the others don’t work for some reason.
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I so wish you the best for it today. It sounds like you’ve put a lot of effort into it but only time will tell! Agh! Well, if it helps one of my mantras for self development is “do something slightly terrifying every day”. Break a leg
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