a literary virgin
Everyone sees his hands tremble as he grabs hold of his parchment with his left hand and the edge of the podium with his right He thinks to himself that this is what palahniuk must have gone through this is what bukowski must have endured this is what kerouac must have experienced when they all stood before a public audience for the first time His head’s down and his mouth is already parched like that of a desert nomad Then the first syllables plop from his jaded lips There’s a slight pause Then he continues on for close to a half hour fumbling here and there He manages to conclude his short with a tinge of excitement in his voice But none of it seems to impress the seventy-plus audience members before him No one applauds yet it appears no one has left Everyone seems to be completely stoic and motionless He surveys the paralyzed audience and sits down convincing himself that they failed to applaud because they were all mesmerized by his prose But he knows fiction is probably getting the best of him
__
Tony Richard Rodriguez graduated from San Francisco State University, with his BA in Liberal Studies with an emphasis in English Literature. He is currently teaching Theology at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, California. Tony spends his days loving his wife and his newborn daughter, though he also enjoys bashing political pundits on the Left and Right. He's authored three books, which include The Disappearance and the Slow Awakening, Rapid Eye Metaphors, and the most recent Simplicity Regurgitated: Poems and Shorts. Imaginatively, Tony still lives in San Francisco, California. He is currently at work on his fourth novel, a heartfelt canticle addressing the buoyant reality of politics in today's America. You can catch his blog at http://tony-r-rodriguez.blogspot.com.