Have you ever been deep into a book? I mean deep– to the point you embody one of the characters? Susan Tepper writes about her immersion in “The Great Gatsby.” She has come up for air since I am glad to say! Tepper hails from NYC, but has read at The Somerville News Writers Festival, and has taught at GRUB STREET in Boston. Check her out at http://www.susantepper.com

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Daisy

Summer grass is tall brown
Tumbleweed
And I restless, too

With Gatsby tucked under an arm
I drag a lounge-chair back to the fence
That separates two back yards

Sinking onto woven straps that pinch
My bare legs

Page after page of flies buzzing
Buzz from a distant mower

Page after page of deep wet heat
Engulfing me.

As dusk falls over the neighborhood
Closing the book, lifting my chin
I am Daisy:

Unaware of the great expanse of
Clipped emerald lawn

Yawning at crisp sails cutting
Across the bay

I smooth my cap of smooth bobbed hair
And gaze toward the big white house

Its wide veranda wrapping around
Like endless arms, and I think:
Where O Where is love?

–  Susan Tepper

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dougholder@post.harvard.edu