Such a perfect afternoon and location for a reading entitled “Open to Air”! Since it was the day before the fall time change, I had selected a group of ten poems for my first set that centered around time, including “On Seeing the Cost of Time Change,” which playfully mocks Benjamin Franklin for not seeing the effects of his idea. It was great to have Roxy Heinrich in the audience who originally suggested I write a poem about the time change.
photo by Danelle Taylor-Johnston
My second set focused around memories, most with medical connections, taking into account the majority of the audience with professional medical connections. I was touched by a woman who spoke with me after the reading to say she was an ICU nurse and that my poem “2 a.m. Set” captured that environment.
Flynt and Danelle Taylor-Johnston, Melanie Jobe, David Stone, Anne and Kevin Chaffee, and Dr. Andy Sandiford
The final set centered around nature. I was disappointed that Dr. Melissa Brotton was not able to attend and hear a poem about a Siberian Husky named “Huck,” which I wrote for a nature writing class I took from her at La Sierra University.
I also read “We Came to Count the Cypress” which I wrote six years ago today in response to a walk at Fairmont Park in Riverside, CA led by writer Gayle Brandeis and artist Sue Mitchell.
Thank you to Drs. Michael Orlich, Jim Walters, and John Lou from Loma Linda University’s Humanities Program who invited me and organized today’s reading.
David Stone 