I’m far from perfect when it comes to teaching with Zoom, but I think I’m definitely getting better! It helps that I’m getting plenty of practice. I delivered a keynote for Kansas State University on Saturday and I taught my second poetry class for the Brooklyn Public Library yesterday; I’ve got two Zoom meetings today another tomorrow, and another on Saturday. Next week I teach my last class on Monday and then give a guest lecture for a local university later in the week. May so far is pretty quiet with just one scheduled online event, so I’ll need to get back to writing. Mostly this month I’m just managing to write a poem a day. Yesterday for my class we talked about odes and students had the option of writing to a person or object. This poem isn’t really an ode, I don’t think, but I wrote it last spring after passing a lovely young apple tree. I decided to try an ode to the coronavirus but didn’t get too far. Will try again this afternoon in between my Zoom events. Saturday’s talk was fairly exhilarating—I couldn’t see any of the attendees since their screens were turned off, so I was just talking into my own camera and advancing slides that told a story about how my family history informs my fiction. Folks gave me really positive feedback on social media, and one attendee even captured some screenshots. Trying out a new talk can be a bit nerve-racking but I got up early to pull my materials together, my hosts were organized and supportive, and it went off without a hitch. A professor who attended my keynote invited me to present for her class in the fall, and it’s looking like many colleges will still be operating online by then. I started this year wanting to slow down and the pandemic has granted my wish…