Off to Longview

I'm off to Longview, WA, this morning, to give a workshop and a reading at Lower Columbia College. It's a 2-3 hour drive, and I'm hoping the unrelentlingly unsettled weather we've been having (rain, wind, and leaden skies one minute; sunny, blue, and clear the next) finally settles down and decides which it is going to be. I love driving or road trips, and often get a poem or two written in my head as the scenery floats past. It's this weird trance state that driving induces, I think. At some point I usually end up pulling over on the side of the road, or into a rest stop or diner, so I can jot things down on paper before I lose them.

I have 4 workshop exercises planned: lyric/sensory poem first; then Scrabble poem, Abecedarian, and Tabloid poem. We'll all do the lyric poem exercise; and then the attendees will be able to choose one of the last three to focus on. I say attendees as I don't know if this will be mostly students, teachers, general public, or a mixture of all three (I'm hoping for a mix).
I'll give a short reading in the evening, to help launch the new issue of the school's lit mag, The Salal Review. And, best of all, I get to visit with old friend Joseph Green and his wife Marquita.