Poems -- & musings on the Albany (NY) poetry scene.
"It's not the Truth, but it's pretty darn close."
June 29, 2016
Third Thursday Poetry Night, June 16
Tonight’s featured poet was Karen Fabiane. & because today is the international festival of “Bloomsday” our muse for the night was James Joyce, a bit of Molly Bloom’s soliloquy from Ulysses. & as the mythical tour-bus was still circling the mythical streets looking for that mythical parking spot, tonight’s open mic poets had the option of reading 2 — count ‘em! — 2 poems in the open mic.
First up was Richard Propp reading poems from the Spanish Jewish physician, poet & philosopher Judah Halevi (1075 - 1141). Alan Catlin read a memoir poem inspired by a reading of a book on the killings at Kent State in 1970 “After Reading 67 Shots, the Killings at Kent State,” then from his recent book American Odyssey “Our Lady of the Sub-Basement.” Annie read, with her dark glasses on, a piece exploring love “Narcissus eats Goldmun & Spits Him Out,” then “10 of Cups” beginning with a quote from Jimi Hendrix. Philomena read from her recent chapbook of poems, My Moon Self, first the poem about a blackout, “Inadequacies,” then the last poem in the book “Benefaction,” a bus poem on gratitude.
Bob Sharkey, who of course knew today was Bloomsday, read a new poem, “Pulse of My Heart,” a meditation on gender-identity, on Orlando, all in the context of Ulysses & Bloomsday. Kaly had shown up early, signed up, then cut out for a while, but was back in time to perform a free-form sermon on love & victims. I ended the open mic with the poem “Beach” from my chapbook Gloucester Notes.
Karen Fabiane has been doing a number of featured readings in the last few months & is a frequent reader at open mics around town. Tonight she was the featured poet here. She began with a new poem about miscommunication, “Was That You?” Then from her first book, Dancing Bears (Bright Hill Press, 2011) she read “There Was a Very Smooth Aspect to Her,” “Slay Me,” & “Rain Today.” From the anthology from 2nd Sunday @ 2, 2, she read both her entries, “This Hardship of Loving” & “Noticeably Difficult.” On to poems from Seeing You Again (Grey Book Press, 2014), including “I Fucked St. Joan,” “Begone,” & the title poem. She then shifted to a poem written today “The Best Thing You Said Was I Am Really Tired of it Now,” another phone conversation like her first poem, this with a woman going through a break-up, even referencing the very reading she is given now. She ended with a brief “The Rest of Us.”
Join us with a poem each third Thursday at the Social Justice Center (33 Central Ave., Albany) for a featured poet & an open mic, 7:30PM. Your donation of $3.00, or as generous as you want to be, helps pay the featured poet & supports the Social Justice Center.
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