WHEN YOUR MOTHER'S IN THE AUDIENCE

Big thanks to Keith Badowski and Ron Self from THE BIG TABLE POETS!

So last night was especially wonderful because my mother was in the audience, and that doesn't happen all that often. But it was strange, too -- I worried that she might be bored by the whole thing, and I was a little bit self-conscious when I read a poem that was kind of sexy... oh, the power of mothers.

For her part, Mom seemed super pleased and proud to be sharing the experience. And it was especially touching because I was wearing a dress she made for me, a black dress, after a poem I wrote for her entitled "The Black Dress," about love and how sometimes we learn about love too late.

And then there was this: as we were leaving, one of the guys in our group said to my mom, "thank you for giving us Irene." And as a mom, I thought, is there any better thing one could say to a mother?? More importantly, I am so lucky to have been born to this woman.