Troy Poetry Mission, March 27

The Winter has been tough on this monthly series with storms tending toward mid-week, but with astrological Spring here I was bold enough to venture out to Troy, to Elixir16Troy for what was billed as “2 Poets 1 Night” hosted by R.M. Engelhardt & James H. Duncan. But then it turned out to be 1 poet & 1 host & a bare handful of open mic poets, even without a snowstorm.

R.M. Engelhardt started us off with an invocation, a poem in Robert Service rhyme & meter “Don Quixote.” I followed with 2 short poems reacting to reading the poetry of Paul Pines then “Reading Mary Oliver while Masturbating” appropriating lines from her poems. Gloria Manthos, whom I usually see at Caffè Lena, began with a poem reminiscent of one by Lawrence Ferlinghetti “The Anxiety of Waiting” with its recurring line “I am waiting for…” then a poem about her ancestry, her family, what she termed “a border poem,” “Bloodlines.”

Carol Durant read new stuff, a poem with a bit of neighborhood humor “Tick Tock,” then one titled “Revealed.” Rob was back to read John Milton’s “Sonnet 19,” then a piece on the ones we have lost “A Conversation: Friends & Angels.”

The one present featured poet, Suzanne S. Rancourt, read from her forthcoming book Murmurs at the Gate a long poem titled “The Blue Curl: When Angels Fall” filled with images of blue, the military, death, PSTD, as well as the magical. In “The Woman” she celebrated her own strength & power. “The Execution” was a meditation on the media & what’s real & was inspired by the famous photo from 1968 of the summary execution of Viet Cong General Nguyen Van Lem. Other poems using military images & references (Suzanne served in both the US Army & the Marines) were “The Hunt,” “Re-enlistment: the Global War on Terror,” “On My Way Home,” & “Iron Sight.” Her poem “Courage Grows Strong at the Wound” about dealing with family grief & testing the family tree, while Mediterranean Blue” pondered the nature of humanity; there were others as well. As I said, there had been a second featured poet scheduled who could not make it at the last minute, but Suzanne’s reading was a long as 2 features, so the lack of a second feature, & with only 4 open mic readers the night did not seem so long.

The Troy Poetry Mission happens on the last Wednesday of the month at Elixir16Troy, 45 2nd Street, Troy, NY, listed as 7:30PM in the publicity but doesn’t get going until about 8:00PM, adult beverages are available, but no elevator for those of you who are challenged by stairs.