[the Writing of Kuypers]    [JanetKuypers.com]    [Bio]    [Poems]    [Prose]

Order this iTunes track from the poetry audio CD Hope Chest In The Attic 13 Years of Poetry & Prose ...Or order the entire CD set from iTunes:

Listen to the CD recording of this piece from the CD (used for the show) Changing Gears

See YouTube video (:53) Live at Changing Gears 06/17/03

See the entire performance of the live show Changing Gears 06/17/03, hosted by the Internet Archive

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her Down in the Dirt 1-4/24 book “The Limits of Language” poems “Never Did the Same” (+ 9/10/02 show image), “A Match” (+ 6/17/03 show image), & “On the California Streets” (+ 6/17/03 show image) during her “Poetic License 5/5/24 global open mic” she hosted through a Zoom meeting & a Facebook event page (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). Also enjoy this as a Facebook live video stream that was filmed & streamed from a Samsung S9 camera with a Charcoal filter; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuyperspoeticlicense

A Match “I once set fire to my fingernail. I wanted my finger to be a human candle.” She dropped another match into her glass. The flame sizzled in the drops of drink at the bottom. She struck another match at the side of the box. Kitchen matches. Six or seven lay on the cocktail napkin, ten more at the bottom of the glass. In a corner booth, in this small club the flame she aroused looked like any other table light. But the club was hers. She owned it feet on the bench, knees bent. Everything there focused on her and the little piece of energy she held. Everything there was hers to abuse. And she struck another match. “An old flame used to say that everyone is a pyro at heart.” And she blushed. “Yeah, I set my fingernail on fire as I was talking to someone. It was a fake nail. The burning plastic smelled. But I didn’t realize what I had done until I felt the heat on my skin.” Just then you could see the flame dancing at her fingertip. She shook the match. She dropped it in her glass. Copyright Janet Kuypers. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission.

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