The School of Night, April 11

"The School of Night" is the name of an open mic series that R.M. Engelhardt has been running off & on at various locations in Albany for a number of years. After a lengthy hiatus it is now back on the 2nd Thursday of the month at the Pearl St. Pub on Steuben Place (& North Pearl St.) in Albany, NY. The open mic poets & a cluster of fans were gathered in the side room, dubbed the "Dirty Martini Lounge."


Rob gave a brief, general history of "The School of Night" then read poems by former Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish (1892 - 1982) & by American surrealist Franklin Rosemont (1943 - 2009), a pairing that in itself was quite surreal. Mike Conner read some poems about the seasons & being outdoors, "Winter's Wolf" (working outside), "Late Winter Rain" & "Passed Peak" (a stroll on Peebles Island).

Another new voice/face was Nicole Ryan who read 2 untitled poems dedicated to a friend, Melissa. Before reading a poem by B.Z. Niditch Rob talked about the pre-Internet heyday of the zines that once flooded readings. Brian Dorn read 3 of his rhyming poems on various topics, "Divine Thoughts" (thinking for yourself), "Chemical Smile" (a love poem) & "From My Poems to Yours" (on the diversity of poetic expression).


Todd Fabozzi has not been reading out for a while, but tonight had a big chunk for us, beginning with a poem about responding to people's greetings, then one about his daughter's music teacher & the blues, a mistaken sighting on Dove St. ("I Thought I Saw William Kennedy"), a political piece ("Tea Party") & ended appropriately enough with "That's It You Son of a Bitch." Our host, R.M. Engelhardt, read a couple of new poems, "A Christmas in Hell" & another poem on drinking to become a poet, "Poetry Whiskey & Buk," & ended with old chestnuts, "Albany & Lark St. Haiku." I did a couple of relatively recent poems, "Trailer Park" & "Living in Wilcox." The last poet of the night, Kenyatta Jean-Paul Garcia read "The Sentimental Education" from what looked like an anthology or collection of poems, piling up images about repetitive educational techniques.

The School of Night is back -- sign-up on the 2nd Thursday at the Pearl St. Pub, see the calendar at AlbanyPoets.com for full information.