Portable Kisses Book

I read this for a couple of reasons.

In college, I had been turned on to T. Gallagher's short stories in a writer's workshop. It was not known to me at that time that she was married to Raymond Carver and I had read A LOT of him, so learning of that later pressed me with greater interest to revisit her years later.

I also wanted to read another woman. I had been flipping through Emily Dickinson over the past two years but much of what I have been reading has been male writers (and some obscure female authors).

This was my first introduction to her poetry and I chose it, sappily, because of the title.

Mainly because poetry is one of my favorite reads when I am not reaching for books with the regular fervor I am accustomed and also because I could not be any more sick and through with the concept of love right now, that I wanted to warm my being to actually caring about another person in that kind of way.

Poetry, kissing, is sharing time and, like with reading, it is sharing a special kind of time, where there is nothing else in the world but the individual subjects and their personal worlds, their intended focus. There are, or there should be, no outside influences, distractions, etc., to pull you from that deep appreciation of the matter or person you've chosen to fixate on.

To enjoy poetry, you certainly need a quiet mind and a lush imagination and to enjoy kissing, being in love, you'll also need a quiet mind, imagination, otherwise the world competes and usually wins, since it offers untold possibilities and reasoning matters out will kill the heart every time.

In a well crafted poem, as Gallagher manages, you will not discover her one note that lay on the page as the specific word chosen, if you are entertaining so many others notes and tones and words simultaneously, and you'll not stop to relish and enjoy what is yours for what you imagine might be yours.

So yes, to kissing and poetry, rehabilitation, warmth and kindness, vulnerability not abused, and all that good stuff needed to appreciate a tender moment embracing your lover and their poetry. Go Tess.