Poets Speak Loud!, June 27

This series from AlbanyPoets continues at McGeary's. Tonight's featured poet, Sally Rhoades, did the right thing, packing the back room with her friends. & the host, Mary Panza, of course kept it going.

Somehow I ended up first on the sign-up sheet for the open mic, again. I read my poem "Missing Pieces" about Wren Panzella's paintings, then the short, erotic "Since Monday." Avery did the sounds of "The Construction Project." Poetic Visions was surprised to to be be up so quick, having signed up about #6, but nobody filled in the blanks. His first piece was like a riddle, with the answer, "my name is poetry;" his second piece, "Dreams are Not Realistic" exhorted us to be a dreamer. Anthony Bernini piled up images & tight word play (as he so often does) in his poem "The Intrusions."

It was nice to hear Sally Rhoades, dancer & poet, do more than the 1 or 2 poems she is limited to at open mics. She began with a couple of recent pieces, "Lantana" (for her mother-in-law) & "What If My Father Was a Poet." "Gathering the Dawn" is the title poem of a collection she is working on, & "The Pool" was a cool Summertime treat. She acknowledged our hard-working waitress, Megan, with "My Mother Was a Waitress." She read an old poem, "Studying the Street Music," then to a poem about dancing, "Around the Corner," & "Desire" as a fine-toothed comb. A couple of traveling poems, then "America Woke Up Last Night" on President Obama's inauguration. She ended with a poem in 83 works for her friend Annette, & the tribute, "Tom Nattell." A nicely put together selection of poems.

Returning to the open mic, Dain Brammge did a poem in rhyme, "Love Sick" then a cinquain, "Reading Into What is Not Said." Shannon Shoemaker had 2 breakup poems, the sweet one, "Poem for Star," & an angry rant (including a reference to the poetry/music duo, Murrow). Jill Crammond (whose hair was perfect, once again), had 2 poems for her Dad, the first about dreams of firemen, the other a story of him sharing a hospital room with a drug runner, "Wanted: Participants for Exciting In-Patient Study." Tess Lecuyer has been going through her old poetry notebooks & read a found-again poem, "For Noriko" then "The Poet Ascends."

The night's poetry virgin, Nadi Morsch, won us over with her bitting aphoristic poems (or was it 1 poem in 3 parts?), "I'm Leaving You" (or he's leaving me), &/or "Well Next Time Don't Fuck my Fiance," (the great line, "I like my Oreos like I like my women…").

It's another one of those events where what you think is going to happen does, then something else happens too. Last Monday of most months, at McGeary's, Clinton Square, Albany, NY.