Back in the big D, and what a whirlwind of a week it was in the Windy City. Home to piles of mail with a goodie or 2 buried in my stack of credit reports including a few new titles for reading:

Denis Mair: Man Cut in Wood
Anne Valley-Fox: Point of No Return (La Alameda title!)
Jane Sprague: Port of Los Angeles
Juliana Spahr: things of each possible relation hashing against one another

Read last night at Myopic Books in Wicker Park and met Ray B. and Mark T., local Chicago poets who I never had the chance to know as a student in the city. The chair of my old writing department came out as well as Aimee, my former photography teacher, who brought along her very nice new boyfriend, Stephen.

Kort flew in on Thursday night for the premier of "Recipe for Paper" which went exceptionally well. Mei reinterpreted the piece in 3 sections (new section added by her for continuity) and in this particular version, I think the notion of the loss of tradition was highlighted, vs. a focus on the honoring of tradition, which put a new and interesting spin on things. Mei's husband Paul edited together video footage from several cooking programs (Emeril, Martha, etc) which were projected on screen while part I of Recipe for Paper was read and Mei stood on stage in apron and with cooking cart, taking notes on the making of paper. Shift to part II - 3 dancers move across the stage draped with white paper hung from the ceiling. 1 dancer is wrapped in a white fabric which moves as a metaphor for the Silk Road. There were many wonderful moments of synchronicity between the dance and the text - when "scents are released into the air" - a dancer is lifted on stage as another dancer tosses fabric into the air. As the "interwoven fibers" of the paper take shape, the 3 dancers converged together in one formation. As the text and music end, the 3 dancer slowly exited the stage with the care of monks walking in Buddhist meditation. Part III, shift back to Mei on stage, holding a sheet of handmade paper and engaging with her husband (an actor in the audience) yakking it up on his cell phone/palm pilot device telling her paper is going the way of dinosaurs. As the lights begin to fade, Mei is left on stage contemplating tradition as she tears the paper into tiny pieces.

Other pieces in the dance perf included 2 words by Wild Space from Wisconsin, 1 piece by Jan Bartoszek, artistic director of Hedwig and 1 piece by a Cuban choreographer who set a poem about a young florist to dance. NPR did run a 5 minute piece on the performance, but sadly I missed the report!

Spent time with an old friend and collaborator, Larry Lee and had many good conversations on the School, academia, teaching, and the arts which have inspired some deep introspection. Likewise with Aimee... more thoughts to come as I slow down enough to breathe.

For now, feeling happy, healthy and invigorated and optimistic about the future. Getting ready now for Nato's visit to Dallas and an open studio next week and planning with Jack for next semester's poetry class.

Thanks to Larry, Yuchia, Aimee, Luba, and Anna Marie and to Jan & Hedwig, Tony & Columbia, and Chuck and Myopic for making my visit back to Chicago like a homecoming.