Live from the Living Room, August 12

This series at the Pride Center of the Capital District is well-known as generally relaxed, informal &, of course, straight-friendly, with Don Levy the welcoming host. Unfortunately, tonight’s featured reader, Thomas Dimopoulos, had to cancel & that meant canceling the tour bus filled with his fans & other poets for the open mic. Don suggested a round-robin type of reading, so I started it with an old piece, but timely for this week, “Altamont Fair Poem.”

My grand-daughter, Emily Wilcox, was visiting for a few days; she is a poet & brought along a couple poems for her first-ever poetry open mic, beginning with “Red,” a poem about her (former) favorite color. Don Levy read his tribute poem to the late Paul Weinman, “White Boy.”

My turn again with a short poem I’d written on the paper table cover in one of my favorite places for lunch, The Hidden Café in Delmar. Emily followed with the celebratory “That Shooting Star;” quite a debut for what we call around here a “poetry virgin.”

Don read a prose poem, “Deaf Girl Playing,” by the late James Tate, then concluded with one he had written on his recent trip to Paris (from which he brought me a marvelous souvenir beret), probably the best poem I’ve ever heard on writer’s block, “Constipation.”

It was a quiet night of poetry, but for me exhilarating to be able to introduce the poetry scene to the next generation of Wilcox poets. This event takes place each 2nd Wednesday of the month at the Pride Center of the Capital District, 332 Hudson Ave., Albany, NY, 7:30PM, a featured poet (usually) & an open mic for the rest of us.