Mamalicious!

“The reading was sublime. All mama-writers. Lots of blood, sex, body fluids, wine.”

These 3 sentences were about all I could muster on Twitter when I returned home last night from the Unblurred reading.

I was pretty okay when I left the house.  By phone, Techboo had done his loving cheerleader thing.  The first time I read the story I read last night, “Bomani Jones”, was at Bus Boys and Poets in DC, and TechBoo was there cheering me on, making me feel like I was The Shit.  This time, I was going to have to do this without him physically present.

I hyperventilated a little as a drove to the venue.  I called the babysitter and reminded her of something she already knew.  Then, I found a little comfort in the fact that TechBoo had picked out the brand-new shirt I wore, just for this occasion.  He felt a little closer.

I arrived at the Rebellious Nature T-Shirt/Art Gallery space and immediately felt like a part of The Establishment.  Rebellious Nature defines itself as a “radical t-shirt and fair-trade gift shop and art gallery, featuring organic political t-shirts by Pittsburgh designers, fair-trade clothing and accessories, recycled products, and the work of local artists.”  It’s a great space.  In addition to the art, t-shirts, purses, radical books, and other what-nots, they offer a line of cute clothing called Global Girlfriend featuring women-made, eco-friendly, fair trade products.  A shout out to the owners for making us feel so welcome!  And the wine, which calmed my nerves, was much appreciated.

I was the first one there.  I looked at the rows of chairs and the mic, and I panicked.  I called TechBoo for one last cheer; we spoke only briefly though because he was deep in Daddy mode at that time.  I called Talibah, but remembered when she didn’t answer that she was deep in Mommy mode.

I picked up a copy of Hip Mama, the magazine which was hosting the reading.  The winner of their Fiction Contest, Amanda Gilby, had been asked to organize the reading.  She reached out to me based on our connection on PghMamas, an e-list we both used to frequent years ago.  Amanda’s excellent story, an excerpt from a novel-in-progress, features 3 generations of mothers, and is so rich and moving, you owe it to yourself to get Hip Mama #44, the creativity issue, and read it. I am honored to have been included in the group of mama-writers Amanda assembled.  Our writings covered a mama-themed spectrum: sex, birth, loss, ambivalence, anger, umbilical cords, and yes, blood, and yes, wine.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Before the reading, I met Kelli Stevens Kane, a beautiful sister with a distinctive look and gorgeous, bold locks.  I’d seen her around the city before, she’d heard my name before, and we’d both been on PghMamas, but we’d never met.  We quickly connected over our locks and our mystifying 10-year-old daughters.

Orphan that I am, my heart leapt as Kellli  gestured during the reading toward her mother and father, who sat in the audience.  They were one of those ageless black couples who look so good, you just pray that’s you and yours in 30/40 years.  They radiated with good living and pride in their daughter.  Kelli put her whole body into reading her poems, many of which brought to mind a staccato of gunfire in the distance–brief, quiet, but making a serious impact.  There were lines I wanted her to read over and over again.

My friend, the fabulous Christina Springer, blew the roof off the mutha as she always does with poems that are visceral and musical and honest and raw and absolutely devastating…and freeing.

It was so good to see Melissa Sokulski, another PghMama from the playdate/breastfeeding era of my life.  Her story was inspiring, funny, and so crisply written.  It’s also an excerpt from a novel, that I hope to see in print.

I didn’t know Robin Monroe before last night, but as she read about mothering and about her own mother, Christina Springer and I were nodding with recognition.  If it had been a different kind of party, I would have yelled, “Preach!”  Robin’s observations and humor were so spot-on.

As I read,  I was warmed by the faces of students from my adult writing class at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.  I was also glad to see a friend from my breastfeeding days and her youngest daughter.  I’m stunned that her oldest is about to start driving–it’s been that long, too long.

Talibah’s dad and her stepmom were there too.  I had never met them before, but Talibah sent them, and I was moved beyond words by their presence.

My sisters-in-the-spirit Genie and Talibah were there with me, even if not in person.

I know my mom and my Nay-Nay were there too.

I left Rebellious Nature with future playdates, of the grown up and kid varieties.

I left buzzing with chatter of a “Hair” reading with the lovely-locked Christina and Kelli.

I left knowing that all of us that read last night want to do it again, and others want us to do it again.

I left knowing that I must turn “Bomani Jones” into a YA novel, as my agent-friend has encouraged me to do.

Now I must get up from here and go be Mama.  Make breakfast, referee the never-ending sibling squabbles, take Mini-Me to a robotics competition, take BabyGirl to Grandma’s, pick up our new pug puppies, pick up a sleepover friend.

And of course, at the end of it all: wine.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 5th, 2009 at 8:35 am and is filed under Books and Writers, Cool Stuff, Double-X, Friends, Fun Times, Green, Long-Distance Love, Love 101, Mama-hood, Offspring, Toot-Toot, Wordsmithin'. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.