April is the Foolest Month, April 1

The start of a very busy month. The new Poet Laureate of Saratoga Springs, Jay Rogoff, sent out a list of 14 events in April, starting with this, “an evening of original funny poems by local luminaries,” (including me), in the Downstairs Lounge at the Whitman Brewing Company & Walt Café in Saratoga Springs. Jay was the host & MC; he said he chose the poets because we each had made him laugh out loud at some point in time. He began with his shortest poem, one about bacteria eating grime. We read in alphabetical order.

Joe Bruchac read a series of funny aphorisms, then performed Robert Frost’s “Whose Woods…” as a tango — it was! 

Jackie Craven’s poems point to her quirky, surrealist view of the world; she read “Still Life with Stuffed Olives” & sort of a break-up poem, “In Which I Try to Leave My Husband But Cannot Find the Words.” 

David Graham said he was reading poems from some 30 years ago, “Self-Portrait As a Runner-Up,” & a poem in 2 short parts, “Today Two Things Happened.”

Carol Graser’s funny poems were titled “The Winter She Left Us for Temporary Work in Kansas,” & “The Appendix” (as a woman).

Maggie Greaves began with a poem of collaged lines, “Things My Daughter Said During the Wildfires,” then one written this February “The Empires of Apricots,” & one written in her youth about an imagined figure skater, “Explication of the Presence of Ann Marie.”

Elaine Handley read about everything going bad, “Kafflooey” (which I don’t know how to spell).

After a break, Jay came back to read his poem “Horoscope.”

Susan Kress read a poem, “Tidying Up,” inspired by the Japanese author Marie Kondo, then, using her cellphone as a prop, read “The Muse is in Transit.”

Marilyn McCabe read “Strange Arrangements,” based on her early majoring in Biology in college, then “Lettuce,” &, based on anthropology, “We the People.”

Mary Sanders Shartle read a series of short pieces from a chapbook Advice to the Karma, including found poems (a great source of humorous poems), “Mortise & Tenon Tips” (dedicated to the late poet Naton Leslie, the sexy “Cleans Up with a Glass of Water,” & “Avoiding Fights.” 

Barbara Ungar noted that this was the 1st night of Passover & began with "Free Form Judaism,” then “Grieving for Seniors,” & a poem about her son’s fascination with the word “penis” “Now We Are 15.” 

Nancy White read a poem from 40 years ago, the Biblical “Eve Leaves,” then a monologue in the persona of Bill Clinton, & from her forth-coming collection What She Said, a poem about going to beauty school.

Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos

I brought up the rear by reading in its entirety the mini-chapbook, A Little Book of Irish Pub Jokes (A.P.D., 2023), about my infant grandson & his dog.

There was a little time left, so Jay opened it up to others & a poet he had met in one of his workshops stepped up, Robert Ridley, to read a poem “for Cindy.”

With so many poets reading there were of course many of their poet friends in the audience, including photographer Thomas Dimapoulus who posted some of his photos on his Facebook page. This was a congenial venue for poetry — food & drinks were available — the upstairs bar & cafe are spacious & the staff was friendly & efficient. I have found a new place to go to when I am in Saratoga. https://www.waltandwhitmanbrewing.com/

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic, March 24

For one reason or another, mostly the Winter weather, this is the first time I’ve been to the Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic this year & the first time I’ve been here since the switch to the 4th Tuesday. But it seems timeless once I walked through the door, same wonderful, eclectic poets, 1st class featured readers (tonight, Natalya Sukhonos), same witty host, Carol Graser, who began this night with an eco-poem by Martha Silano, “Can’t Complain,” from her book Terminal Surreal (Acre Books, 2025).

Natalya Sukhonos is a native of Odessa, Ukraine, a poet, scholar, & teacher. Tonight, she read from her new book of poems Sunlight Trapped in Stone (Green Writers Press, 2026), a generous selection from each of the 3 sections of the book, “Fossilized Sunlight,” “Border Crossings,” & “Limpid Stone,” ending with a love poem to her husband, “I Heard the Sea’s Voice in Your Voice.” She also included some pieces of her translation project to bring the work of Ukrainian writers to the English-speaking world. You can see her reading on the Caffè Lena YouTube channel. Be patient, Natalya’s reading begins a little over 6 minutes in.

Then on to the open mic sign up sheet with the 1st reader David Graham with an unfinished poem from 2020, “Hard Winter.” Joe Caresello was new here at the Caffè Lena, & read “Immigrant Example,” & a piece apparently from his book, “I Know I Don’t Know.” Cathy Clarke read a seasonal piece “March,” then one for her brother & his wife, “The May Time.” Leslie Sittner is a frequent reader here, read “Wallowing in Sloth” for her dog, then a poem from a workshop, “Unventured Servitude.” Pat Curtis read “Alphabet Junk,” a funny alphabet poem in rhyme for her grandson.

We took a short break, then returned to the open mic with Carol Graser reading a poem, “That Winter,” from her new book Prayer for the Sorrowful Brain (Kelsay Books, 2025). 

Lancelot Barber said that this was his 1st time reading at an open mic & shared an intense screed titled incongruously “Love is Only the Real Thing We Got.” Peg Clarke’s 2 poems were seasonal observations, “A Waltz in the Wind” & “Unopened” about cardinals in her yard. David Goren read a poem about the hard Winter, “A Moon’s Moon.” Ian Singleton (who is Natalya Sukhonos’ husband) read a translation from the Russian by a poet whose name I didn’t get, “Cathedral Square in Odessa.”

Charlie Lapinski was another poet with season poems, “Crossing the Border” about the migration of butterflies (& people?), & “Predator” about an owl. I read my poem about a recent Amtrak trip from Philadelphia to Albany, at the William H. Gray III 30th St. Station, “The Sparrows of Amtrak.” Melissa Anderson, from the Café Euphoria Slam Team, read a love poem that she characterized as a “contrapuntal” that began “You were born in wildfire season…” 

Jay Rogoff, the Poet Laureate of Saratoga Springs, read a political satire, “The Ballroom 2030” in which the thrift shop there is run by immigrants. A frequent reader here, Elaine Kenyon, said she is on a poem-a-day project based upon the word-of-the-day, read “An After Dark Return” responding to the word “eidolon,” then another, "Requiem as I Sleep.” Rodney Parrott has been responding with poetry to the Presidencies of Donald J. Trump for a long time now & read a piece in which the poet imagines himself running for President.

Emma Norris managed to squeeze in 3 short poems (& got away with it), “Knowing” about leaving a relationship, then a ghost poem “White Napkin,” & another relationship poem, “Pink.” Randee Renzi, who is part of the active poetry group Lucid Voices, read a political piece on the Epstein files, “Redactions,” then a prosy untitled piece on narcissists. Ian McCrae read a quirky poems with a long title, “Gas Station in Upstate New York Where I Went to Do My Taxes,” then one about a cigarette titled more simply “Poem Number 2.”  S.L. Maurice brought the evening to a close with 2 pieces from his book Vibrant Sounds, Colors in Motion (Deadman’s Press Ink, 2025), recited from memory, “Ariadne” & “What You See.”

This long-running (20+ years) series is now on the 4th Tuesday of the month, still at the historical Caffè Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY - featured poet at 7:00PM, followed by an open mic, $5.00, students free.

[Note: I apologize if I mis-spelled your name, I had no access to the sign-up sheet & relied on what I heard/interpreted for my notes. If you send me a correction via email I will revise the post. Likewise if I mis-heard the title of your poem, or got anything else wrong, please email me your correction.]

Poets at the Farm, March 22

It was not quite yet National Poetry Month & already a new poetry venue was poking thru, like the tulips in Washington Park. This was the first of a new series run by poet Avery Stempel (of Collar City Mushrooms) held on a Sunday afternoon at Indian Ladder Farms, either Altamont or Clarksville, in the hills outside Albany, NY. It was held in the bar with a generous selection of beers & ciders, informal & relaxed. 

Our Host, Avery, was the 1st to take the stage with a poem written this morning, “A New Vision,” on the potential of the New, then one of his older chant/rants, “Because You Have Opened.” 

I followed with the 2 related poems that I had read at the Third Thursday Poetry Night, “Angels,” inspired by the late Jayne Robbins (1945 - 2014), then my elegy to her, “A Poem for Ja(y)ne Robbins, for Daring Deluxe with Vincent.”

Mimi Moriarty didn’t have far to go to be here & began with a new poem, “The Hardy Birds of Winter,” mixing the seasonal birds with the murder of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by ICE agents; “Precious Light” is also a new poem, a morning poem; & “Good Friday,” a poem in 3 parts, mixing the Biblical story & getting ready for Easter.

David Gonsalves read 3 short poems, “Brother from Another Mother,” & “Silent Movie,” both characteristically enigmatic. 

Elaine Klein began with a funny childhood memory of a pet toad, in rhyme, “The Ballad of Worm Doom,” then a most appropriate piece for the times, “Speak truth to power…”

This new monthly series was off to a great start. Poets at the Farm takes place on the 4th Sunday of each month at the local landmark, Indian Ladder Farms, 342 Altamont Rd., Altamont, NY, -- bring some poems to read, & maybe do some shopping while you are there.

: An Evening of Music & Poetry for Peace & Justice, March 20

With poems & songs of peace & social justice at the Friends Meeting House on Madison Ave., Albany NY, organized by the Upper Hudson Peace Action, & co-sponsorship by the Hudson Valley Writers Guild & the Poetry Motel Foundation. 

The house was packed by long time & loyal members & friends of Upper Hudson Peace Action & I was honored to have been asked to be the MC for the evening. The celebration started & ended as well it should with music from the Solidarity Singers who have been performing rousing songs of social protest for decades throughout the Capital District. Tonight was no different, with the obligatory songs by Woody Guthrie, but also with an eclectic mix of songs from still-living musician activists. Although the ensemble has changed somewhat over the years, the Singers are still motivated by the belief that good social movements, like good lives, need good music.

The featured poet for the night was a great treasure of the poetry & arts scene in the Capital District, D. Colin, a multidisciplinary artist of Haitian descent whose creative practice spans poetry, visual art & theater. She has a background in English & Africana Studies & is a teaching artist & curator who creates & facilitates spaces for creativity, storytelling & healing. She is the author of Dreaming in Kreyol, a poetry collection, & two plays, as well as a number of publications & performances at venues both nationally & abroad. Her performance this night included readings from her book & other poems, even singing in her ancestral Kreyol.

After a break for light refreshments, the evening continued with an open mic of music & poetry performances  from the riches of the local art & activist community. The musicians included Chrys Ballurano, Mary Baker with Sheree Cammer (who also performed together with poetry), Mark Shaeffer (with Tom Lehrer’s humorous piece on Huntly/Brinkley), Melanie Pores (with Terri Roben, who also performed solo).

The poets included Sylvia Barnard, Tom Ellis, Edie Abrams (with John Lennon’s “Imagine”), Lex Bhagat, David Gonsalves, Fred Pfeiffer, Charlie Lapinski, Mike McGlynn & Elaine Klein.

These are tough times (some would say it has always been tough times) but, with the seasonal increase of light, we also need each other’s light carried by music & words. 

Keep at it.

Third Thursday Poetry Night, March 19

Tonight’s featured reader was Caitlin Conlon, but first I invoked the Muse, tonight for the first time not a poet (although who knows, maybe she did write poems, I just have not found any) but the visual artist Jane (sometimes Jayne) Robbins (1945 - 2024) whose work I was introduced to by a volume she collaborated on with Vincent Ferrini, Deluxe Daring (Bliss Publications, 1994); I read my elegy, “A Poem for Ja(y)ne Robbins, Deluxe Daring, with Vincent.” Then on to the open mic sign-up. With just 7 signed up to read, it was a 2-poem night if folks wanted to. 

First up was Doug, who had been here last month for the 1st time, read 2 autobiographical poems in rhyme, the first perhaps titled “Dawn’s Early Light.” Ian Macks was the featured poet last month, tonight he joined the open mic with 2 poems from his collection titled Identity Crises (Recto y Verso, 2024) “Homecoming”  & “Ghosts among me.” David Gonsalves gets around to lots of poetry open mics, tonight read “Variations on a Theme by Howard Kogan,” & “Altar Crawl,” both short & succinct. Sam Maurice, who had been the featured poet here in January, was back from a short sojourn on the West Coast; he recited from his collection Vibrant Sounds, Colors in Motion (Deadman’s Press Ink, 2nd ed. 2025), “The Therapist, the Meteorologist …,” & “Zoetic Hydrant.”

Caitlin Conlon had read in the open mic here last month. Tonight she read from both of her poetry collections, first from Burning the Ghost Light (Central Avenue Publishing, 2025), which is formatted like a play, with poems about how she “performs” when she is with different people in her life. From Act I: The Mother, “Three Vignettes on Loss;” from Act II: The Father, “Cluttered Intimacy” & “Genesis.” She took a brief “intermission” to read from her first poetry collection, The Surender Theory (Central Avenue Publishing, 2022), poems dealing with grief & loss, first the title poem, then “Coded Signals” (formatted like a telegram), “Nesting Doll” (on the sizes of different griefs). Back to Burning the Ghost Light, she ended with poems from Act IV:  The Self, “26,” “The Moveable Future,” & “Night Walk,” poems to lead us from the dark, back into the light. 

We took a short break for Caitlin to sell books & for folks to make contributions to the cause of poetry, then returned for what remained of the open mic list. I stepped in with a poem from 1994, inspired by Jayne Robbins’ drawing of a nude male angel in Deluxe Daring, “Angels.” Maria Sohn was back again to share her poetry, tonight 2 poems, a memory of childhood, “Que Sera Sera,” & “Bird in the House.” 

I’ve known Anthony Bernini for a very long lime in the local poetry scene & published his firs book Distant Kinships (A.P.D., 2002); he began with a new piece “The Shortest Day,” then from his Selected Poems (The Troy Bookmakers, 2025), (& also in Distant Kinships), “The Banks of the Stream” about the “sundered heart of Palestine.”

One can find us each month at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY at 7:30PM for a local or regional poet & an open mic for community writers -- you donation supports poetry events in Albany & the work of the Social Justice Center.

Poetry at the Saratoga Senior Center, March 13

This monthly gathering of poets is now just an open mic, no featured poet — but the same good, local poets & the same brownie-baking host, Rachel Baum. She had suggested a theme, COVID-19, & to start us off she read “Love in a Pandemic” by John Grinsell, then went on to read her poem on that theme, “I Would Be That Bud.”

David Graham read “Ode to Pandemic Hair,” sprouting like mushrooms. I read one of my poem cards, “Easter Sunday,” finding painted rocks. Rhonda Rosenheck read a poem from her own project on the theme, the poem titled “Opulence.” David Gonsalves has a conversation with COVID-19 in his poem “Misery for 2 & 4 Hands.”

Pat Curtis’ poem was not about COVID, but about traveling across America by car, from the cat’s point of view, “I Remember the Old Home.” Elaine Klein read her poem, “Smallest Deserters,” not COVID, but a sad screed against cancer. Elaine Handley was on theme with a piece titled “Quarantine 2020.” Lin Murphy read a piece about trying to get the vaccine, “My COVID Covert Mission.” Sue Valartis read a descriptive piece about her town & her home.

Jeanne Ungar did 2 short pieces, the first about a garden, the 2nd titled “The Past that Weaves Me.” Susan Kress also had a garden poem, that she wrote this morning, “Today in the Garden” with the birds.

Marilyn McCabe read a poem with a nod to Elizabeth Bishop, “Man Moth.” Leslie Sittner brought us back to the theme with an exploration & word-play with “Pandemic.”

Our host said we had more time & a few of us read another. I read my poem “Epidemic” in 3 very short parts, on bird flu, swine flu & COVID. Rhonda read “Recipe for a Day of Isolation,” which was indeed formatted as recipe. Sue read “COVID Haircut.” Jeanne read “A Collection Clouds” inspired by her former job as security at the Museum of Modern Art. Leslie read “Bleeding” about a nose bleed that brought her to the Emergency Room.

Always a mixed bag of local poets, this open mic is held at the Saratoga Springs Senior Center, 290 West Ave., Saratoga Springs, NY at 1:00PM on the 2nd Friday of each month.

2nd Tuesday All-Genre Open Mic out of Bennington, March 10

I rarely use Zoom these days, but this event is one I do use it for, but lately whenever I go to an event the Zoom app jumps me hoops, sometimes landing at a virtual brick wall. This night was one of those times & by the time I was connected it was well underway.

Cheryl Rice apparently was the first on the list & I heard only the last few words of her 1st round poem (the host, Charlie Rossiter likes to do the 2-round thing, 1 poem each round). But I was there from the beginning for her 2nd round poem, “Ocean & Sky,” about the actors Robert Redford & Paul Newman (Cheryl is a big fan of old-time movies).

Sharon Smith’s first poem, titled “Discernment,” is in her latest book, stages (self-published, 2025) (contact her at sharonsmithyoga@comcast.net to find out how to order a copy). Her poem in the 2nd round was a new piece, “Why I Never Write About MY Mother,” a celebration in details of her life.

In both rounds Ginny Folger read poems of the season, in the 1st round “I Dream of Spring,” memories & cats; in the 2nd round the descriptive “March is Messy…” set in a graveyard.

Tom Nicotera began with a poem from a workshop prompt to write about a childhood experience, his a memory of fellow student in a wheelchair from polio, the first time he had thought about death. In his 2nd round he read “The Coming of the Light” in honor of the change to Daylight Savings Time.

Mark O’Brien, in the 1st round, read one of his “correspondence sonnets,” this one titled Ninehva Junction” on the Susquehanna River; in round 2 he read his annual birthday poem, this in the voice of his dogs, “What We Did for Daddy on His Birthday.”

Our host, Charlie Rossiter, read from his new book, For Now, from Foothills Publishing; in the first round, “Reading a Friend’s Poems,” just the fun of it, hearing the poet's voice; in the 2nd round, “They Say Clothes Makes the Man,” about starting to wear a beret — a vest, sky-blue speedo, ties, faded jeans — so fashionable!

Carl Nyberg’s label on Zoom said he was from Shelburne, I’m guessing Vermont; his 1st round poem was titled “Discontinuing the Lincoln Penny.” His 2nd round poem, “Not Creole, Not Jargon, Not Pidgin,” was about language in the military.

I thought I was the last poet to sign in & for the 1st round read a poem inspired by a breakup letter from some years back, “different taste in music,” then in the 2nd round a poem modeled on one by William Carlos Williams of the same title & inspired by a visit to Philadelphia, “The Great Figure.”

Julie Lomoe joined the Zoom event sometime in the 2nd round & spent the time going through her poems, apparently oblivious to what others were reading, was the final reader of the evening with a piece from a few years ago about getting fat, titled “Excess Baggage.”

This Zoom event takes place on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7PM Eastern time. If you would like to join it & you are not already on Charlie’s list, send an email to charlierossiter@gmail.com & ask for the link. You’ll be glad you did.