Open Books is a holy place.

There are many poetry shrines in US. One shrine is nestled here in the Pacific Northwest. I had the honor of giving my second reading at Open Books with the poet Allen Braden.

There were a lot of poets in the house.

Little sayings like this line the walls.

And here's Kathleen Flenniken chatting with Allen, with Susan Rich talking over their shoulders.

Peter was there, as was Rick Barot in the back. I didn't manage to get a picture of Rick, unfortunately. Over Peter's shoulder is Matthew Nienow.

J.W. Marshall, co-owner at the podium. Carol Levin's turning around to chat with Allen in this picture, I think.

And here's Allen reading below the words of Charles Olson.

If you haven't already picked up his book, you should. It's fantastic, and I wanted to hear more from it. He did, however, read lots of newer work, which was fab.

Peter snapped this photo of me reading. It's hard to take photos of yourself when you're at the podium.

All told, it was a great reading and I'm looking forward to reading with Allen again in November!

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