Erica Doyle and Tracie Morris @ the Belladonna Reading Series

I don't think I cried when I saw Erica and Tracie at Dixon Place, but it was an awesome night. (this pic is not of that night -- this pic is of some other night in Harlem-- ask Steven Fullwood) Anyway, I had been at work, it had been a long day, I was too tired to go out that night, but I also couldn't imagine not going to hear two of my favorite poets read *together*. Plus, Evie was going -- and that meant I was guaranteed to at least see yet another of my favorite poets. I don't know how to say what touched me so much. Of course, they were every bit as wonderful as I expected them to be. They read & performed poems I'd heard before and some I hadn't heard. This was last month, so now I can't remember so much, but I remember Tracie saying (after reading a confessional poem) that she usually didn't write confessional poems because she didn't feel that she'd done anything wrong! I remember the admiration each of them expressed for the other. I remember that when people said "R. Erica Doyle" it sounded and felt like they were saying "our Erica Doyle". And there were so many fierce women in the audience, Tisa Bryant, Tonya Hegamin (whom I hadn't seen in ages) -- both had new books coming out. Akilah Oliver, Ebony Golden, , Oh, I'll get in trouble if I try to name everyone, but there was lots of love in that room.