pre-encrypted

For many poems it would be unnecessary to put them in an encrypted file.

Ibid, ibid again

There were so many instances of ‘Ibid’ in his footnotes, I thought the author might be someone who frequented auctions.

poets and panhandlers

The dilemma of paying poets for their poems is it's like giving money to panhandlers: you want to help but you don’t want to encourage them.

echo form

Two people walk into a poetry reading late, while the reader is reciting her pantoum. The guy says to his date, 'Gosh, there's a terrible echo in this room'.

freebird

At the poetry reading they were all holding up lighters
and calling out for me to read “Free Bird.” I went flapping
through pages of my book, but I couldn't find that poem.

eyes glazed over

The scholar, after spending many hours annotating the text, was glossy-eyed.

fully furnished

They tried to give him a chair in poetry. He refused unless there was a table to go with it.

meter was his métier

He could scan a line of poetry with his eyes closed.

wary of the way forward

When it came to advanced practices in poetry and the arts, he was avant-guarded.

pall over opening night

Sadly we must report that the playwright died in a struggle over Chekhov’s gun.

double or nothing

The poet said he was paid zero for his last reading, so he needed to charge me something. I offered to double what he was paid for his last reading. He went silent on the phone…I guess he was considering my offer.