2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, September 18

The start of our 10th year! — Time flies when you are having fun. Today we, Nancy Klepsch & I, & 13 other readers, were upstairs at the Arts Center.

& I read first, 2 recent poems, the Summertime piece “Shopping for White Underpants” & “Purple Prose Poem.” Kate Laity read a piece published on the Punk Noir Magazine website “The Romance of the Battered Underwood” a meditation inspired by the notice of the auctioning of Mark E. Smith’s (of the band The Fall) old typewriter. Bob Sharkey’s piece “Summertime” was a wander through a visit from his granddaughter. Dan Curley, who had brought the libations today (Thanks!) began back with “The Trojan War” playing with the end of the lines, then one on windows (& more, of course) “Six Over One.”  Kate Gillespie read a prose tale titled “Ground in Water” a meditation on the power of the ocean, in the surf during a hurricane watch.  

Dianne Sefcik’s piece “Legacy” was about paying tribute, her next piece was inspired by Rebecca Ellison & was a litany “If all there was …” Carol Jewell’s poem titled “In a Gloved Hand” was a memoir of a Russian friend, then an untitled piece about the cotton candy sky. Joel Best said he wrote “Martian Shoes” on an old typewriter, his second piece was a memory “Lie Still.” Dave DeVries also read a bit of memoir, “Study Hall” about lusting after a girl in high school.

Julie Lomoe’s prose meanderings were about yellow-jackets in her garden, & about a sunny Sunday afternoon. Mary Panza’s 2 pieces were memoirs of growing up in South Troy, “Parked Cars” & “She Asked How to Walk in High Heels” leading to a conversation with her daughter. Jil Hanifan began with a school poem “Mentoring,” then on to a true urban story of a drunk doing his laundry “Mad Lark Laundry.”

Sally Rhoades’ poem “Between Hope & Despair” was a series of questions, then on to a descriptive piece of a beach in Northern Cyprus. Nancy Klepsch read her 50-year Pride poem, then the Melville-inspired “Queequeg.” Thom Francis finished up the day with a poem about his daughter Molly’s 1st day at 1st grade — there it starts.

So there we were, now into 10 years of 2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, at the Arts Center in Troy, free! & open to writers in any genre. Bring something to read.