The most striking difference between David and Olstein, I think, made the night most magical. Poetry is a celebration - Olstein's selections, of nature, and David's of culture. As a spectator, of any performance, I look for joy. I was at the first show of the Pixies' reunion tour in 2006. It was a summer night in Atlanta, hot, muggy as hell, and when they took the stage - all of them grinning ear to ear - it just started pouring. It was this perfect moment. Everybody there was completely elated. That's what I felt at their reading. Both of them completely enamored of life.
This was the first I'd ever heard of David but I will most certainly explore his work. I loved the way he wove cultural relics into his own experience. As for Olstein, I was most struck by the veneration with which she vocalized her work. The tie that binds them is this innate thing - this internal voice that compels beautiful creation.
I think poetry is an inclination, confessional, and impossible to successfully contrive. Both readers embody that idea. They both seemed a little uncomfortable with the idea of an particular process. They love poetry. They read. They listen. It just comes from them. When it works, it's awestriking.
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