A coughing girl rumages
through lozenges and tissues.
Oh no, I'm sitting next to
the sick girl. Others twist
away from slide show
depictions of the medieval
womb in a dark auditorium.
Outside the sun shines
brightly for the first time
in days; after chairing a
successful session he goes
home and drinks too much
and the participants' joy
at sinking their teeth into
an inexperienced student
validates their conviction
that she still doesn't know
quite as much as they do.
Applause from the next room
resembles the sound of rain
drops persistently beating
a white gloved hand as it
turns the pages of a rare book.
Lukewarm receptions are
reserved for the "independent
scholar" as opposed to
the people from actual
universities. Science as
rhetoric versus modern
notions of hard science.
Derrida has left us. Yes--
the presenters pace and
gesture as they dis-
play their passions:
Lapidaries. Herbals.
And bestiaries.
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