#after the reading

[poem-today]

A poem by Tiana Clark

After the Reading

someone  asked  me  if  my husband  left me,  or if I left him. After the   reading,  someone   asked   me   if   there   was  a   chance  for reconciliation  as  I shoved a  pulled  pork sandwich  in my mouth with  Carolina  Gold BBQ  sauce  oozing  out  the  sides  like  neon yellow  lava.  After  the reading,  someone  asked  me if I still pray to  God  as  I  sipped a  fizzy Diet Coke  and the ice cubes huddled and  softly clinked  around my  upper lip  leaving a wet mustache. After  the  reading,  someone said they had been divorced too and then  scurried away  in a way that I completely  understood. After the  reading,  a  woman told me I was worthy as if I was shattered while   I   picked   up   crudités   with  a   copious  dollop  of  ranch dressing.  After  the  reading,  a  white woman thanked me for my “angry poems.”  I  told  her they were about my joy,  and then she touched  my  forearm  and  said,  “No,  they were about my rage.” Insisting.   After   the  reading,   someone  said   they   cried,   and another  gave me a kind word.  Thank you. After the after,  I went   home and changed into my cheetah print pajamas. I wrapped my hair and  brushed my teeth.  I got in bed and played a  sci-fi show on  my  laptop.  The  actors  on the show were trying to find a way to talk  to aliens by  using  math  and pheromones.  I  googled the height   of  one  of  the   actors.  He  is  6' 4".   I   fell   asleep  while watching   the    show   about    the    people   in   space   trying   to   communicate  in  first  contact,  intergalactic  noises  beeped  and swirled around the room like bees.

Tiana Clark

Copyright © 2023 by Tiana Clark. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on April 13, 2023, by the Academy of American Poets.

Listen to Tiana Clark read her prose poem.

Tiana Clark writes: This prose poem tumbled out of me as anaphora, a way to capture the catalog of interactions that I’ve experienced after readings, which is a particularly tender and vulnerable time for me, especially when I’ve shared new work. The space after a reading can be a wild tangle of joy, connection, anxiety, and awkwardness when confronted with humanity. I’m learning to be more resolute about my own boundaries in the aftercare of art making.

More poems by Tiana Clark are available through her website.

[thesapphiccrytid]

Falin?

[sowlmates]

gotta give it to the percy jackson fans, you really do love your main character. for other franchises, fans usually place the #1 blorbo title on a specific side character. but in percy jackson you really love your percy jackson

[juiche]

a moment of peace before the whole world shatters 😇

get your own print here ❤️

[katsinspats]

Thematically appropriate comic for Make a Terrible Comic Day!!

I saw the original post this morning and it made me get out of bed to make something, so thank u Pseudonym Jones mission accomplished

[lotus-pear]

SIGHHHH BSD REREAD…................I MISS THEM SO MUCH :(((

[ynnu-64]

brave hobbit

[moonchild-nissa]

One Piece & Scars (part 1)

[monstermoviedean]

truly no video game moment will ever surpass the part in portal 2 where glados says "well, this is the part where he kills us" and wheatley says "hello, this is the part where i kill you" and you unlock the achievement titled "the part where he kills you" (description: this is that part) and the chapter title appears on the screen and reads: chapter nine: the part where he kills you

[tadfools]

You guys are commenting on the fics you read right? You’re at least leaving kudos on the Astarion smut and the pairs that have less than 20 fics for them too? You’re bookmarking stories you really like that are still being updated and ones that haven’t been touched in over a year right?

You know that even the smallest interactions are like cocaine to fic writers right? You understand how important a string of emoji hearts left behind on a chapter at three am is right?? Right????

You’re treating AO3 like a community and not a content factory….right?

[clarisse-doodles]

inspired by this post, in which Damian does not know what Vine is

[illusioncanthurtme--art]

Physically? I am sitting in my bedroom. Mentally? Spiritually? I AM DEAD ON THE FLOOR!!!!! THESE TWO HAVE KILLED ME!!!!

(Another drawing! This was originally attempt #1 at drawing stan, and then fiddleford just showed up. Kinda feels like them five minutes after the above acting like nothing happened though, so it works sdjkgkjfshj)

[raynewolferune]

DC x DP Prompt: Bruce is bad at emoting but at least ghosts are empathic (too bad bat kids are not)

Was reading Twincognito on AO3 when I stumbled across this gem again:

~

" “Danny, Tim. I was just…checking in. Is everything alright?” Curse his inability to make meaningful conversation when it wasn’t a life or death situation.

They glanced at each other and shrugged.

Then Danny hauled himself out of the bed and walked over to Bruce.

Bruce tried not to let too much excitement show on his face. "

~

Now I really want to read a story where Bruce adopts Danny post Meta trafficking and is being his usual emotionally constipated self. His kids keep getting mad at him because he's treating their new meta brother who was trafficked poorly (generally being stilted in conversation with him, walking away hurriedly mid-conversation, avoiding Danny when he's feeling really awkward, etc). They think Bruce is discriminating against Danny for being a civilian, meta, dealer's pick, but really it's just Bruce being horribly socially awkward. Danny knows this because of ghost empathy and find the whole thing hilarious. The whole thing comes to a head with the Bat Kids staging an intervention in the Bat Cave.

[merrigel]

Ludovica and Sausage I mean Luck (gif version:)

[ach-sss-no]

Source: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Sauron

dude thats sick. thats rad

[chloesimaginationthings]

FNAF movie Vanessa sucks at “flirting” with Mike