Third Thursday Poetry Night, March 19

A good gathering of poets & listeners for this month’s open mic with featured poet Andy Fogle. Since we were in the penumbra of St. Paddy’s Day, I invoked the muse of Irish poet Anthony Raftery (1784 - 1835) & read his poem “The Lass from Bally-na-Lee,” translated by Desmond O’Grady. Then our first open mic poet, Alan Catlin, obliged us with an St. Paddy’s Day poem from his years as a bartender in an Irish bar in Albany.

New voice Kathy Sephas read a piece titled “The Lost Sheep.” Brian Dorn was next with “Reality Check,” a poem about hopelessness. Frank Robinson did not read from his book Love Poems, but read about Death instead. Thérèse Broderick (being Irish) followed with yet another Death poem, “The Grass” a childhood memory about her father. Karen Fabiane read “Oceans Everywhere” from her first book Dancing Bears (Bright Hill Press).

Andy Fogle was tonight’s featured poet, & started with a poem by one of his teachers, Carolyn Forché, “Prayer.” His “Lake Tiles” is a linked series of poems, prose, about being out with his young son, collecting stones on a lake in Virginia. His poem “July 1978” worked in stories about his mother, an apparition. From a poetry boot-camp in college he read the poem “The Grower,” then talked about translating Egyptian poets with Walid Abdallah & read their translation of poems by contemporary Egyptian poet Farouk Gouida “Our Martyrs,” then into “Who Said Oil is Worth More than Blood?” His own tiny poem“Riot” was about fishing, then to another “cover,” a narrative/memoir piece by Kenny Carroll “Gambler’s Falacy.” Next one of his own about his father “My Father Calls While My Daughter is in the Bath,” followed by a wedding poem for some friends, & ended with another wedding piece “Rising to a Wedding Across from Mt. Hood, Oregon.”

After the break I came back with a poem from my new chapbook, Coyote: poems of Suburban Living, “Coyote 6.” Joe Krausman read a poem about gambling, “Born Loser” — & Alan Casline announced that Benevolent Bird Press will soon publish a chapbook of Joe’s poetry. & speaking of Alan Casline, he was the next reader with a meditative poem “Candelabra Lost Candelabra Found,” actually the 3rd poem he has written about this particular fixture in his house. Adam Tedesco was the inadvertent last poet (since the last poet on the list had left) with a poem titled “Electric Blossoms.”

The Third Thursday Poetry Night takes place each month on, well, you get it, at 7:30PM, with a featured poet, an open mic, all for a $3.00 donation.