In the late 90s, I spent quite a bit of time in Pittsburgh. I would attend user group meetings as a software vendor. I traveled a lot back then because I was single and part of my job was to implement the software in printing plants. Business travel can take its toll, but I met amazing, smart, diverse people on my travels. If it weren’t for those meetings, I would have never met and married my late husband. Along the way on my travels, I also picked up my Martin guitar in a shop in Dickson, Tennessee!
When I first started writing again, I had a mentor that encouraged me to write “odes” – poems praising an individual, an idea, or an event. One of the odes from The Liminal Space is about Pittsburgh. There is so much to love about Pittsburgh (besides the wonderful people) including its unique setting and many bridges. I hope to go back there someday, but for now I’m grateful for the people I met in the halls of a brilliant, small company called Prograph.
The people I’ve met have shaped me, but so have places I’ve traveled to.
STEEL CITY
Who doesn't want fries
with everything?
I met my husband in the Strip District.
I remember your red brick buildings stacked in the hills,
and yellow bridges,
crossing three rivers and deciding to meet.
Pittsburgh, it has been a lifetime.
The ripples of your cobblestones
are worth counting.
Let’s talk soon.
With affection,
Carrie VS