My Personal Favorite with Mary Lou Buschi

A Poetry Blog

Hi Everyone,

This blog only asks the poet to answer one two-part question: At this moment, which of your own poems is your personal favorite, and why?

Cheers,

Kelly

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When Year After Year I Receive an Evite to A Party Where I Know No One, Not Even the Host.

The first year I didn’t reply.

I thought about replying.

The first year I thought maybe I did know them and I should go to the party.

The second year, I RSVP-ed, “Not Attending.”

But I looked hard at every name on the Evite.

I thought I recognized one name.

The second year I was sure there was no one I knew.

The host sent 3 reminders to reply.

The third year there were pictures included.

Some were group selfies. I thought I saw my ear in one.

I respond, “what a great party”

The host responds, “Let’s do it again next year.”

I respond, “Looking forward”

The fourth year the Evite is in black and white.

I love black tie parties. I have the perfect dress.

I show the list of names to my husband. We know someone, right?

I put the party on the calendar. Diet. Take spin classes.

I RSVP, “Yes” plus 1.

I search the names of who will be there.

I convince myself that the host is a good friend’s younger brother’s friend.

I imagine the stories we’ll tell. Shop for a tux.

Snow is predicted for the night of the party.

I ask about our tires, while choosing wine, a hostess gift: a scented candle, raison.

It’s hailing as we drive into the white out.

The wipers making quick strides, clearing nothing.

I check my phone.

I check my email.

I check my socials

Is anyone there yet?

Will anyone scream our names?

***

Mary Lou:

I don’t think I have a favorite poem that feels fit for public consumption. My favorites are usually the awkward preteens in my poetry folder, waiting for insight and revision. Instead, I’d like to share a poem of mine that doesn’t appear in any of my books. It was published in On the Seawall, Ron Slate’s fine journal. “When Year After Year I Receive an Evite to a Party Where I Know No One, Not Even the Host” has a performative spirit that examines who we are in the public eye. As much as we try to look away—or resist participating in how we’re perceived—we get pulled in. As the speaker rallies her partner to attend the party, they drive into a snowstorm, the final lines nodding to James Joyce’s The Dead. Will the snow finally connect us?

Will anyone scream our names?

***

Mary Lou Buschi (she/her) authored three poetry collections. Her 3rd, BLUE PHYSICS, 2024 (Lily Poetry Review) was a finalist for Contemporary Poetry in The International Book Awards and a distinguished favorite for Independent Press Award. PADDOCK, 2021 (LPR) was nominated for The Four Quartets Prize through The Poetry Society of America. Her poems appear in Glacier, Ploughshares, Verse Daily, among many other literary magazines. She is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She also holds a Master of Science in Urban Education from Mercy College. Mary Lou has received fellowships from The Santa Fe Writers Conference, Vermont Studio Center, and The New York City Teaching Fellows. She is the recipient of an artist grant through The Arts Council of Rockland County (ACOR, 2025). Mary Lou has appeared in reading series such as The Hudson Valley Writers Center, Volume, New York University, and Couplet, and The Howland Cultural Center. Currently, she is a special education teacher in the Bronx.

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A little about your host, Kelly Fordon:

KELLY FORDON's latest poetry collection, What Trammels the Heart, was published by SFAPress in 2025. Her short story collection, I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020), was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House (Kattywompus Press, 2019), was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. It was later adapted into a play by Robin Martin and published in The Kenyon Review Online. Her novel-in-stories, Garden for the Blind, was published by WSUP in 2015. She teaches at Springfed Arts in Detroit and online, where she also runs a fiction podcast called “Let's Deconstruct a Story.” http://www.letsdeconstructastory.substack.com.

What Trammels the Heart is on sale right now for 40% off at tamupress.com with the code HEART40 :) and Amazon here.

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