Pro

Thursday afternoon a marauding band of poets and significant others drove forth from Carrollton towards the capital city of Atlanta. Towards Georgia Tech. Towards poetry.

Ok, so that is patently absurd sounding. It was me, Chad, Gwen, Greg and Lada in a rented van, with awesome automated ramp, who drove over to Tech to hear Katie Chaple read, along with other Atlanta poets Jon Goode and Collin Kelley.

I met Thom Lux shortly before Katie led off, dropping the awesome bomb. I swear, you throw a stick and you hit a good poet around here.

Afterwards, we crossed the street on a decidedly Mt. Doom-esque bridge, eventually winding our way back to the van. From there, it was a beeline to Baraonda, down the street from The Fox Theater, which was awesome. Chad and Greg impressed with their omnivore pizzas. Bit less rapacious, me. Drinks and talk. None of which can ever be repeated here. Then a quick stopover at Trader Joe's, where we wondered the aisles, picking up bread, cheese, chocolate, Italian blood orange soda. You know, the staples.

I can't quite describe how nice it all was. The van made everything effortless: a button's push and the doors would slide open, the ramp would slide out, and in I'd go. All of us, in no time, with no hassle or effort.

It was cold that night, windy, but I stopped a moment in the parking lot to see Atlanta's skyline rising up above us, all light.