At The Morning News, Daniel Nester reminisces about his former life as a New York poet.
More than that, though, he talks about his abdication from the world of poetry.
“I remember some night when I am eating a Mexican dinner in the company of a Famous Eastern European Poet. As we celebrate his reading, a member of our party starts to choke on her food. We laugh at first, but her situation escalates. Emergency medical technicians come in, stick a tube stuck down her throat.
She is taken away in an ambulance.
And all the while, Famous Eastern European Poet continues to eat his meal and speak with other famous poets. They glance back twice.
The only explanation for why this Poet did not react to the woman choking on a bony burrito was it was messing up one of his few nights in Manhattan. I have no explanation, however, for Poets A and B sitting next to him, who continued their conversation on European literary festivals and the pros and cons of living in Iowa.”
