-attitudes in critical behavior-

Submissions, Mount Holyoke College,

South Hadley, Massachusetts, 01075

Mount Holyoke submission guidelines

demand "Impeccable Virtuosity"

and recent poems are tucked neatly
into a FedEx three-day with my money.

enclosed: four "one-side" submissions,

cover letter, and a check for twenty bucks.

the "requirements form" states in conclusion

that the chosen poet will be granted a reading
at the storied, liberal arts university.

I imagine it thusly:

––the young women of Mount Holyoke

drift casually into the Great Hall for the reading,
taking positions without quarrel,

on their guard against fraud and neutrality,

cool-blooded in the face of the poem-writer's sweat,

the nervousness in the vocal quavers,

the immature swallows of dryness interrupting
syllables in mid-phrase, –– the intimate setting in polished

mahogany, the blood of the wood reddened with nearly

two centuries of age.
the young women of Mount Holyoke, engaging,
studied, curious and critical, some reclining
on the floor, resting their young, blood-colored
elbows upon a great, hand-knotted Persian,

(looks authentic from here)
as others position themselves, leaning lithely against

the sills at the base of towering leaded-glass windows

where during the reading even a glance to the outside,

and the poor schmuck at the lectern will know he's done for.