After Sarah Odsley, Hannah Emerson, Chris Martin, and Chat

Michael says wow, Lauren has a pink heart,
Jacob has a clapping hand, Susan says
beautiful, Dan says one of my all-time favorites,
—and I said thank you for being here.

—and I said Hannah's poems are being shared
by the poet Chris Martin. Laura says great job King,
love these and you, Dan puts a heart,
and Jacob has three clapping hands.

Aviv says yes, Josh says wow, so powerful,
Jacob: two hearts, Stephanie: so wonderful,
Lauren: yes,
Love this one, Hannah, says Ashley.

And I said, Grownd.
Grownd. That—
the wording of, of g-r-o-w-n-d,
and in creating your own        word for that,
it's just beautiful for me.

Amanda says these poems, I'm honored to be here,
and then I said The Kissing of Kissing can be purchased
from Milkweed Editions. We'll put a link.

Susan says she's quoting you: it flies into the window
and really gets funked into getting its birdness.
Talisa says heart, Suzanne says I get that.
Michael says funked into getting its birdness
with I think six exclamation points,
Yari says heart, heart, heart.

Ashley says thank you for this understanding of our frozen moment.
Suzanne says, "You need to get the freeze to become the thaw."
Dan has four—five—exclamation points, a heart,
Anette: yes beautiful!
Talisa: Gosh, the best,
Hannah you are amazing, says Nin Trader.

Chris says you're welcome, all of you.

Josh says you speak in poetry Hannah
Luisa says stunning Hannah,
Hannah, we love you.

Suzanne's saying, "I'm hearing yes
as a kind of punctuation and I love it."
Stephanie: really incredible, Declan:
amazing, nouns as verbs, so musical and free.

Um, Melinda says, Hannah?
I am here with my grandson Ro
who types
and has autism
and is a poet.
He has loved listening to your poems.
They have moved him and all of us.
Ralph would love to share one of his poems
with you. He says you would understand.

Aimee says, thank you Hannah for telling
all of us that the beauty around us and in us
is a transformative power.