2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, March 10

In spite of the snow on the roads there was a full house, upstairs in Studio A of the Arts Center in Troy, once again for the 2nd Sunday @ 2. Co-hosts were Nancy Klepsch & Me, Dan Wilcox. We started off with a moment of meditative silence for 2 community members who died yesterday, musician Caroline “Mother Judge” Isachsen, & activist Vera “Mike” Michelson, then Nancy got us off on the proper poetry foot by reading “The Company of Woman” by January Gill O’Neil.

& I was first up in the #2 slot (because nobody signed up for #1) & read 2 new poems, a short ditty from an encounter with a gull in Gloucester “Hey!” then, for the 1st time ever, a poem I’d started in October & had to finish once Mary Oliver died in January “Reading Mary Oliver while Masturbating” which incorporates lines from her poems. Rod Wilson returned with a poem about not speaking to God & playing off physics, then one titled “Shoddy Work Shoddy Mind.” Dave DeVries explained that his poem “Midget Racing” was about the small race cars, not small people, racing. Naomi Bindman began with a poem written many years ago titled “March Symphony” about birds, then a new poem-in-progress “Anecdote.”

Carol Durant read 2 poems from her poetry chapbook Whole Phat And Gluten Free Poetry (Troy Book Makers, 2017) the short 4-line political commentary “Empire Motto,” then a poem written for her son. Joe DiBari was here for the 1st time, said he has written a series of time travel novels & introduced his work to us by reading from Beyond Centerfield about the main character waking up as a baseball player in the 1880s. Joel Best has been here many times before, & read a couple of his meditative poems “Blocking” & “The Goddess of Eclipse.” Kendall Hoeft continues to amaze us as she did once again with a piece about hiking Peebles Island & being reminded of her mother-in-law “Bitter Sweet,” then another titled “Mood Swing in B Minor.” Shelly Rafferty read a poem in which she used 4 lines from a poem by Adrienne Rich to write about agonizing over not writing enough.

Tim Verhaegen, who often reads about his family, today said he had “been raised by women song writers” & read 2 Centos composed entirely of lines from their songs. Bob Sharkey’s piece titled “Racist Lessons from My Childhood” was a found work consisting of the descriptions of countries & people from his stamp album, circa 1950s, a shocking look into the past many of us grew up in. Peggy LeGee read an old piece from her past “Monday Morning Alcoholism,” then on to a poem about Blackie, a new cat in her life, read in an imitation of T.S. Eliot. Nancy Klepsch’s 2 pieces were new & to me sounded like love poems, the second was titled “Brooklyn Memories” emulating the work of poet Warsan Shire.

Athina Mizen was here for the first time & said her pieces were “raw” & new, the first an untitled poem on desire, jealous & loyalty, the second was written yesterday in a workshop here at the Arts Center run by Julie Lomoe, titled “Love Letter to You” written to herself. Cheri, who said she was reading in public for the first time began with a piece written during an illness about finding solace in Nature, the second approached dying as the other side of being born & was quite positive. Karen Fabiane who is frequently here began with an older poem “Blue Heron, for Deborah,” then on to a new piece “Belltone.” Julie Lomoe, who reads at other area open mics, said this was actually her first time at the 2nd Sunday, & had come in late & didn’t hear the rules (i.e., 2 poems or 5 minutes of prose), so could be excused for the long, rambling reading of multiple sections from her hybrid work in progress “Subdural.” She was the final reader.

The fact that it was crowded in Studio A says something about how this series has been catching on of late, & we plan to continue each 2nd Sunday @ 2 for Poetry + Prose, here at the Arts Center on River St., Troy, NY — & it’s Free!