The man with the white beard is Morgan Lambert. I was very surprised that he took a chance on reading a play that has so much mime in it, but he pulled it off by reading the staging parts.

Last night the Readers Theater, a group that meets monthly at Gualala Arts Center, read my play "Banana Skies." It is a one act ten-scene portrayal of Basho's famous travel diary Oku no Hosomichi - Back Roads to the Far North. For me it was such a thrill to hear the words in the voices of other people. How welcomed after hearing only myself reading it!

Morgan Lambert was the director and he had a system figured out so eveyone got a chance to read; even a visitor who jumped in when a regular reader failed to show up. I got hints for formatting corrections and even some grammar goofs that needed repair. Morgan was an English teacher!

But the very nicest part of the evening was the fellowship that formed as we lent our voices to this one manuscript. Because the roles changed scene by scene I could envision various incarnations of Basho and Sora. For moments these two men came alive for me in the sound of living voices. That was so rewarding!

The way that the story of Basho and Sora, on a journey, could pull together this group of individuals four hundred years later - with laughter and questions - so far from Japan was the miracle. I was very thankful to be a part of it. Thanks to everyone who came and made the evening so special.

as poets hew
earth-bound light
we clouds
making shapes of nothing
revealing more than we know