Rhythm & SmokeJennifer OliverI think if I could show you my whole body of work- I mean everything- I mean the big loopy letters I wrote when learning cursive, the letter to an ex I never should have sent, the drunken notes left under the wiper blades of a friend’s car, the permission slips I forged- not just poetry or one poem or a group but my whole body of work- I think if you could read the third grade book report on John F. Kennedy where I was confused because they kept talking about this guy "Jack" all the time, or the notes secured by magnets on the refrigerators that promise I’ll do dishes, that lie about where I am on a Thursday night, if you could see the reviews, the pieces, the articles, the 7 page rhyming play, the vignettes, the blurbs, the emails, love notes, Christmas cards, criticisms, letters to my cousin- if you could see this body in entirety, I think then maybe you would like me, I mean, my writing. Jennifer Oliver |