I went to the poetry critique last night thinking this would be the last one.

The boring guy with nothing to say was in the coffee shop but had no poems this week and didn't join in. Yay!

The flaky guy with the camera showed up an hour late, stood there for 2 minutes and then left because no one was paying attention to him.

The other woman in the group brought me several Hanukkah gifts, really nice stuff: a pen that she had engraved "Meredith Laskow, Poet Laureate"; a good (defined as large spaces) 2005 day planner; and a silk scarf which she had tie-dyed herself. She brought two poems: one good one, and one mess which she had just finished. I told her how bad it was too.

At the end of the group she asked when we'd be meeting again. I said "Call me when you have finished poems that are as good as you can get them, typed and copied and not one minute before. I really shouldn't have to plough sloppy stuff that isn't finished yet."

So now the burden is on her, to decide if she wants to keep doing this. We'll see what happens.