It Was Poetry

This post really belongs to a friend I went through the MFA program at Big State University with: the Chic, Polished nonfiction writer. Actually, it really belongs to a her colleague, but Chic was the one who sent me the email that got me thinking. Chic started teaching at Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, PA, a year or so ago. We write back and forth sporadically, things like "Hey, Expat got a job!" "Hey, I'm getting married!" "Hey, we're getting a house!" "Hey, I wrote a Real Book!" Big stuff.

And as for her latest email . . . well, this is Definitely Big. I hope you'll read the link as well. I don't often get political when I blog, but this isn't political. Or it shouldn't have been. It was just Old Poetry.

"For those of you who don't know, a white box was left next to a trashcan in front of Wright Hall at Shippensburg University last night. Wright Hall houses both the English Department and ROTC. As it turns out, Kazim Ali, a colleague of mine in the English Department, was seen leaving the box by a student member of ROTC. Kazim, who is Indian-American, left the box, as he's apparently done numerous times before without incident, got into his car, and drove away. The student called the police, telling them a Middle-Eastern man with out-of-state plates left a suspicious package in front of Wright Hall. Classes were cancelled and several of the surrounding buildings were evacuated. The state police bomb squad was called, and ultimately gave the all-clear a little after 6:00 last night.

"The white box contained old poetry manuscripts.

"When you have a minute, please read Kazim's take on the events on his website: www.kazimali.com"