09.24.17

Kate: I was on the east coast for the New York Art Book Fair and some poet friends of mine in Philadelphia set up a reading for me, with Caleb as one of the other two readers. My hosts and I were the first to arrive at the reading, which was being held in a tiny apt in West Philly. When Caleb came up the stairs into the living room my guts turned over and screamed "THAT'S CALEB AND YOU LOVE HIM" I told myself I was crazy and proceeded to ignore him as best I could in an approximately 12 sq ft living room with only about 7 or 8 other people in it. I think he noticed, cause after about 30 minutes he pointedly introduced himself. We sat on a bench in the middle of the room chatting alone, our thighs inching ever closer. The reading happened and, as I later learned, he took a bunch of pictures of me reading and felt like a creep. After the reading Caleb almost woo'd me away from the group to go to karaoke, but we ended up piling into a car and heading to a poet party on the other side of town. Caleb: I remember our group being the first to arrive at the party, which was hosted by somebody's mutual friends whom I knew of at best. What I did know was that I'd just met Kate, and wanted to keep talking as long as we could. If you've ever invited me to a party where I know fewer than ten people, I probably flaked, but I couldn't have cared less about these strangers because Kate and I immediately claimed a kitchen corner and occupied it for the next four hours. Friends dipped in and out of our conversation, but anyone trying to be anything other than a third wheel was pretty quickly disappointed. Kate stayed with me for the next two days, and we didn't stop talking the entire weekend. We started texting as soon as she left, and didn't stop for the next nine months, except when I came to visit. As soon as I could, I packed whatever books and clothes would fit in my car and moved with her to Oakland, where we now enjoy occasional moments of silence together.