Poets Speak Loud!, October 30

A rare last Tuesday, rather than last Monday, here at McGeary’s Irish Pub for an open mic with Dave Kime as the featured poet, & our host Mary Panza on board to keep disorder at bay.

Sylvia Barnard was the first up for the open mic with a couple poems written this past Spring, the first looking back to the Psalms, the 2nd, titled “Family,” about Thanksgiving with her daughter & son-in-law. Christa DeMarco was next with a poem on hate, feeling overwhelmed if all we have is thoughts & prayers. Tom Bonville’s poem, “Trading Places,” was on aging with buying a new car on an urge as metaphor. I read 2 poems for the holiday, “This Is Not Trick or Treat” & “Zombie Gourd.” Carrie Czawhiel began with a poem from a couple years ago “My Message to Women Abused,” then a newer one about healing emotional scars with the image of kintsugi, the Japanese technique for mending pottery with gold.

Dave Kime, the featured poet, has a powerful presence & voice, & began with screed against McDonalds a piece formerly titled “McDonner Party” now titled “Neon Drive Thru.” His attacks on corporate America & its manipulation of pop culture continued with other pieces, such as “Stay Loyal” (to your corporation for a bad future), “Sound Bites,” “Operation Mind Trip” (TV), others on the corporate war machine. Others with titles like “Nightfall,” “Trigger Man,” & “Marionette,” most in rhymes & half-rhymes & playing on the sounds. His last poem was “Squirrel” in which he tries to save the small animal after it has been hit by a car. It was great to hear Dave up here (he lives in the Woodstock area) with a big chunk of his engaged, energetic poetry.

As the pitcher for donations was passed around, Cheryl Rice started, appropriately enough after Dave Kime, with “I Hear America,” then to another political piece “The Caskets of Mara Lago.” Joe Krausman was down & out of the poetry scene for weeks & weeks, but was back tonight with a couple poems, “Waiting for That Call” (from Death), & the classic “What’s In a Name.” Doug Holiday continued to pay respect to the late Ntozake Shange by reading her poems “I Live in Music” & “My Father is a Retired Magician.”

Brett Petersen made a rare open mic appearance with 2 poems from his blog,  “An Animal You’ll Never Understand,” & “A Gallon of Anti-Freeze to Wash Down the Guilt” which sounded like a quieter, then intense version of Dave Kime’s poems — a good way to bring it all home.

Poets Speak Loud! is usually on the last Monday of the month & continue to look for it on that day at McGeary’s Irish Pub on Sheridan Square in Albany, NY, 7:30PM, an open mic with a stellar featured poet, more info at AlbanyPoets.com.