Vilenica Festival 2018. Reading in Ljubljana. As I read a balloon bursts. Right next to my right ear. There was a little note in the balloon. (In each of the white and purple balloons were little notes with quotations from the authors.) I ignore my buzzing ear, continue to read and watch the little note from the corner of my eye. The wind blows it gently across the stage. That’s mine, I think, reading faster. Finished. got it. Love it.

Thanks, Stuart Ross! So glad that I met you and all the other writers.

(Stuart’s poem in its full splendor can be found online in the Almanac Vilenica 2018, page 286.)