Friday, November 9, 2007

towering

Windsor is a tangle of despair factories. Ed meets us at the train station and I can tell he is at home. We arrive at my parents’ place and they are vibrating with excitement. My dad has framed copies of the poster for each of us and my mom has painted shirts to correspond to our superhero logos. My brother looks fantastic. We are swarmed with affection.

The next day, we perform in a building at the U of W that didn’t exist when I was there last. I realize I started my undergrad 7 years ago and shudder, The room is lovely – we’ve had great luck with venues this whole tour – and the room quickly fills, standing room only. So many people are here to see us. I start to freak out.

Daphne Marlatt reads first. Her tone is excellent the whole way through – ryan notes that she has been performing for many years and it shows. The last two pieces she reads are excellent – pieces modeled on the practice of walking meditation. The attention the physicality in the pieces, the sound and rhythm, hit me just right. They’re very new to her, and feel a bit like exercises, or unfinished, but they’re going to be spectacular.

Neil reads first, and is great. It is the piece about Ester Anson’s house, and this time it is the party in the pines, dancing on doors that strikes me. I sneeze right at the climax and the whole room laughs, I lose all credibility. I perform and it is good, but I am very nervous and too fast. I crack a few jokes about my mom and Mima being in the audience to cover. The boys see through it. Ryan reads again from the death and destruction suite and blows me out of the water.

I am swarmed and scattered after the performance. I am trying to talk to too many people, receive too many hugs, plan the rest of the day and my head comes dangerously close to exploding.

It is also now that I realize I am running out of books, somehow that extra 50 isn’t enough. I have a small panic attack.

Then we eat dinner at May Wah. I get to see Nicole and Susan, even Dilworth drops by. We got back to my parents’ place. Kendra, Mike, Meaghen, Kacy, CJ and Chad join us. We play Guitar Hero and I feel better.

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