Bread Loaf

The first time a poem of mine was accepted for publication I thought to reward myself by going to the Bread Loaf Writers Conference in Vermont.  I applied and was accepted.

The days at Bread Loaf were filled with readings, workshops and people I didn’t know.  All of it was new.   All of it was exciting and also unnerving.

My response to so much that was unfamiliar was to walk out early before the day’s activities began with my polaroid camera in hand.  I walked the meadows and took photographs of silent buildings and small groups of empty chairs.  I would tuck the undeveloped polaroid into my pocket without waiting to see it.  The result was not then my concern. 

I needed the camera to be able to recognize myself in this environment and in the unfamiliar public role of poet.