2nd Wednesday Poetry Night, July 10

Back once again to Schenectady, I discovered a new brewpub across the street, Frog Alley, but it is not yet selling food. It will be a handy place to visit, before or after the open mic, once their kitchen is set up.

Jackie Craven is the host for this monthly open mic at C.R.E.A.T.E. on State St. She read a poem to start us off by Michael T. Young, “Advice from a Bat” published on Verse Daily. Marilyn Day read a poem titled “Ghosts” honoring her aunt & uncle, then a poem with a political bent, “Goddess Bless America…” Lin Murphy read 2 travel poems, one about an adventure on a river in Costa Rica, the other a description of Budapest.

Kelly De La Rocha’s poem “Ode to Peonies” was about the comfort found by the flowers as someone who moves around a lot. Ron Tersigni read a humorous piece, “Rhyme Ain’t Good” in rhyme, of course. Alan Catlin read poems about his parents, “Sorting Family Photos,” for his father, & “South Sea Tale” which he said he has never read before about being 5-years old & witnessing his mother’s breakdown in St. Thomas.

Jackie read the bios for both featured poets, & Leslie Neustadt, who had been in the group featured reading here last month, read first. She began with the title poem, “Bearing Fruit,” from her 2014 book from Spirit Wind Books, then on to another in the book, “Unspeakable.” A more recent poem was “Dear Mommy,” then the sad poem “Yahrzeit for Segalit,” about her infant daughter who was denied a Jewish ritual because she did not live 30 days. A couple poems were from workshops, “Soldier for a Lost Cause” & “I’m a Blankety Blank Poet” (an amusing performance piece). Also, “Incurable” on her cancer & a Nature poem “The Sustenance of Stars.” Returning to her book she read a poem on making collage “Piece by Piece,” then closed with an example of that with the poem “Poet’s Prayer” done up in a collaged accordion book. It was a typically colorful & engaging reading.

Following Leslie, Judith Prest began with a poem also titled “Poet’s Prayer” from her recent book After (Finishing Line Press, 2019), on to others from the book, the title poems “After,” “Wildwoman, Closing in on 62, Takes Stock,” & “Witness.” From her 2011 book Late Day Light she read the moving “Immigration Clinic, Juarez, December 1989.” Other poems included “Migrant Dreams,” “What I Want” (& improvised the last page when she realized it was missing), “Moon,” & “Adirondack Twilight.” For her final poem, “Survivor,” she returned to After. Judith’s poems were lyrical & self-affirming.

After a break, Jackie Craven returned us to the open mic & read her pleasantly surrealistic piece “Cyborg Sister.” & speaking of Surrealism, Edwin Litts read a piece titled “Handsome Man” a strangely thought-provoking description of a man at a bus stop, imaging his life — but what is the bakery doing there? Ginny Folger read her newest poem about thinking about all the ways there are to die, then an older piece that has just been published, “Summer, Maine 1968.” I just happened to have with me an old poem (so old the copy was printed on a dot-matrix printer) from a series I wrote about ways of dying, “Tape Recording of a Man Jumping Off a 12 Story Building,” then the much more pleasant poem “The Day God Invented Wine.”

Susan Jewell read another of her poems written for the Rattle Magazine ekphrastic project, this one a villanelle titled “Gated Community Under Construction,” then a poem in the style of Alan Catlin’s bar poems “Why Don’t You Shoot Someone on Fifth Avenue and See What Happens.” Greg Wilder, who signs up a “Slay, the Dragon,” began with a poem based on the movie A Quiet Passion a humorous & playful poem about making love with Emily Dickinson, then another playful piece, a mashup of Instagram & Vincent Van Gogh, “Felt Cute, Cute off My Ear & Gave it to a Prostitute.”

What a night of ups & downs, & even some sideways, what often happens at open mics. This series, formerly at Arthur’s Market, is now at the C.R.E.A.T.E. Community Studios, a store-front at 137 State St., Schenectady each 2nd Wednesday of the month, 7:30PM, your donation helps support the venue.