A poem isn't real until it's read.

A poet at a reading I was at recently said that - I think it was A.J. Levin? Anyway, it struck me as at least partially true, which is the best that I hope for in any desciptor or definition involving poetry these days.

I just finished recording "After the garden" for The Goodnight Show, a podcast that features poetry read by the poets, drawn from online sources. It was a bit weird to read it, since it is very much a rapid first draft, as are all my NaPoWriMo poems, and as I'm reading aloud to get the rhythm and where I want to put emphasis and all those other reading tricks, I'm also resisting the urge to edit! slash! hack! fix! since the poem they want is the poem on the website. Never edit a poem after it's been accepted somewhere. Well, you can edit it after publication, but don't try and pawn a "better" version on them when they like the one they saw in the first place.

I think I did an okay job. My voice always sounds so light and childish in recordings. The husband assures me that I don't sound like that in read life. Whew.