LOCAL MONTHLY OPEN-MIC READINGS IN LAWTON

Every second Saturday of the month, writers from Lawton and surrounding towns come together at the Universalist Unitarian church. This ragtag bunch reads new work, old work, tells stories, and shares the poems and stories of writers they admire.

For the most part, the readers become familiar, as may people read regularly. A new face or two, though, arrives each time to share a new perspective, a new voice. At the last reading, Amit Bashyal, a first-year student at Cameron walked in with his laptop, ready to read. Amit is from Kathmandu, Nepal. He is studying the sciences at CU, but he is most certainly a writer.

I first met Amit in my Comp class; he was my student, adjusting to college life a long, long distance from home. Amit and I are now friends and several times he has shared his new work with me. On his facebook page, he's listed quite a few titles under his "favorite books." But the list is not a wish list. It's the list of book he's read in the last two years and includes many of the most celebrated English-language books. Recently, he was turned on to the Beat writers. How he likes these writers, I hope to find out soon.

Anyway, here's a poem by Amit. Also, I wrote about Amit for the January issue of Okie Magazine--"From Nepal to Oklahoma, Amit Bashyal Discovers His Other Life."

Spaces Around Me

by Amit Bashyal

Vacant spaces around me
There I try to fit myself
Far left in the corner
I put my anger
In front of my eyes
Lies my world of ties
Above my head
Is the large round space
There is my world full of mess
My left hand points a place
Lies the challenges I have to face
My right hand facing the vacancy
Lies my dreams full of dreams and fancy
In my back lies an eternal room
All my memories are doomed
All around me are the spaces
Where I try to fit myself!