What Chicky missed last night

Last night, I hosted a graduate reading, and it went very well. The three readers were fantastic, and a good time was had by all. Most, anyway.

But C-Wang wasn't there! Chicky, why hast thou forsaken me (and three other people)? Oh, yeah, you're reading for comps. Okay, fine, that's a good reason. But here's what you missed: in honor of yesterday's being Ash Wednesday, I shared an early draft of T.S. Eliot's poem "Ash Wednesday." Enjoy.

Cash Wednesday

Because I hear the train a-comin’
Because I hear
Because I hear the train
I’m stuck in Folsom prison
and time, time present and time past,
both perhaps present in time future,
keeps draggin’ on.
April is the cruellest month in Folsom.

In the room the women come and go
Talkin’ of a boy named Sue.

And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare to shoot a man in Reno
just to watch him die?” Yeah, I do.
“Do I dare to take a shot of cocaine
and shoot my woman down?” Hell yeah.

I bet there’s rich folks eatin’ on a fancy dinin’ car;
They’re probably drinking coffee
and measurin’ out their lives in coffee spoons.

O O O O that Shakespeherian rag,
so elegant,
so intelligent,
because it’s mine. I walk the line.

We only live, only suspire,
Consumed by a burning ring of fire.