Samantha

Thanks to all who came out for my events in Illinois last week. In Urbana, I was lucky enough to join host David Inge for an hour-long "Focus" interview on WILL, the local NPR affiliate. You can hear the entirety of our conversation here (MP3 or streaming). 


My discussion of Don't Kill the Birthday Girl caught the ear of a mother whose daughter, Samantha, is both an aspiring poet and someone with firsthand food allergy experience. They fought post-school traffic to join us for a packed afternoon reading at the Illini Union Bookstore. Samantha, a whip-smart kid if there ever was one, was kind enough to share this poem that she had written just that day:


TOOTH


A white
small pearl in
your mouth.
When it wiggles a
big
pearl is 
growing
in.


*


It is 6 AM as I type this, readying to hop a plane to Colorado. Last night I got to sleep in my bed for the first time in two weeks...for a whole three hours. My feet are swollen from piggybacking a drive to & from Illinois and with a weekend trip to & from Charleston for a friend's wedding. But it is worth it. You hit the road each time hoping, just hoping, you're lucky enough to meet a girl like Samantha.