And when he got to the part about Robespierre,

I had just taken a drink of water,

And I snorted very loud,

And the water shot out of my nose.

Several people around me gasped,

Especially those who had come to hate me at the poetry readings,

And especially because we had such an esteemed person reading his work that day.

But I took a napkin from the table and wiped my face,

And just as I was about to apologize,

The man held up his hand for me to come 

To where he was standing at the podium,

And said, “You in the back there, come up here.”

And then he motioned for some of his entourage 

To make room for me at the table where They sat closest to the lecturn from where he spoke.

And I didn’t know if I should go or not,

But I have a way of doing what I am bidden,

And I’ve never hidden from a fight or conflict of any kind,

But face it down 

And swallow it,

And make it a part of flesh and blood and mind.

So I collected my bag and my book and my half empty bottle of water,

And rose from my table there in the back where I sat alone,

And walked up to the front and took the chair that was offered to me.

Then I steel myself for any possible onslaught.

But the man said, “I would like to thank this woman here because she got my joke, 

And she got it to such an extent that she almost choked to death,”

And then he smiled,

And then he threw his head back and laughed,

And then he looked at me again with a big grin and said, Thank you, Madame.”

And I could tell you all the mysteries that came between,

And maybe I will someday,

But suffice it to say,

The thing I like about him is:

You can’t believe a word he says,

And therefore, he’s easy to listen to,

And therefore, he’s easy to ignore,

And any more than that would be insincere on my part to declare,

But my heart has had enough of the airs and gaits of false hopes and faiths,

The prehensiled tales of pretenses that

We suspend our beliefs from,

The fraying layers of insincerity.

Where can I be, in spite of myself?

Where can i go to hide from myself 

And you,

But into the lies that people tell about themselves and 

About me

And about the world that we all just merely perceive 

When the truth is funny 

And the “revolution” of most, such a joke.

-jennifer