Edited Manuscript of Novel / Poem: Sitting Next to a Noisy Person during a lecture on the benefits of Chiropractic

Arnie just sent me an email asking, How do you ever find time to work on your novel?

By not answering emails, I wrote him back.

We had a kiro speak at our group last nite. These people are high pressure, believe me. It's part of their training but I don't like it. My former kiro still sends me Happy Holiday postcards. Go away! Go away!

The speaker kiro wanted people to put a DOWN PAYMENT on their FREE APPOINTMENT with him. I said No fucking way, Jose. Jose (not his real name) said, Well, how bout if we donate it to New Directions. Boy o boy.

I got the edited ms. of my novel via Federal Express. She's sitting right next to me on the empty chair. Empty? It's got two jackets on the back, my typing stand and a notebook with New Directions newcomers on it. So that's where the damn thing went. It's also got a couple of papers I don't know where to put.

My goal today is to begin my novel rewrite. My teacher said she's invested in my work. She gave a critique of the whole novel which is so embarrassingly good it was actually painful to read it again, but necessary, since it's got suggestions for the revision.

My goal is to finish the rewrite in a week. By the end of February.

Procrastinatory maneuvers include writing the below poem, sending Dr Dan Gottlieb of Voices in the Family an email saying I'd like to be on his radio show along w/other members of New Directions, and looking at the beautiful icicles frozen in place from the rain gutters next door at the Adams Family home.

I was gonna email Bill about the beautiful icicles but then I looked at my own icicles which were so long I thought they might bring the rain gutters down, so I thought if I email him it might jinx me and the gutters would fall down.

If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna email Bill Adams write now. And then, I promise, I'll work on said novel.

SITTING NEXT TO A NOISY PERSON DURING A LECTURE ON THE BENEFITS OF CHIROPRACTIC

I pulled my purse off the chair so you could sit next to me
as the chiropractor ranted about the benefits of the science
of chiropractic
I groaned in my chair as I watched him wave the plastic
S-shaped model of the human spine
and the oddly named segments known as vertebrates
When will this ever end, I thought, why had I invited him in
to our group of devotees
And then she opened the lid on her bought coffee
and an overwhelming smell of delicious coffee -
- was it French Vanilla? -
floated like a cloud in front of my face
I swooned
drinking in the fragrance
like fine summer wine on the grass
in a picnic with Jules and Jim
And then she began to sip
tiny sips at first
mouth noises I never knew anyone could make
and the rustling!
always the rustling
The chiropractor was nonplussed
if that’s a word
deep in the belief system that brought him
peace and happiness across the way in
Southampton
a website of his own
beautiful girls who worked for him
He reminded me of young Bill Curt
a psychology intern I once worked with
who adored me, the feeling is mutual, I’m
sure, young Bill,
but was rumored to have had police involvement
with his girlfriends
Why can’t life be simple again
with no sciatica or hurtsome necks
or the need to drink coffee late at night
to stay awake during talks by zealots
I was once one myself
no more, no more,
she said to Buddah.