Brass Tacks, February 18

Third Tuesday, so back to The Low Beat for the open mic, with our host Nick Bisanz. When I got there someone was on stage singing Mo-Town tunes a cappella, & Howard at the bar teased me with “It’s Karaoke Night.” Nope, just someone enjoying the sound of his own voice (don’t we all?).

Nick started off the night with the lyrics of one of his songs about all the crazy things he did with a friend now gone, “A Message to St. Paul.”

Amanda seems to like it here, so keeps coming back. She began with a rant “To All the Boys that Stole from Me” (underwear, purple eye-liner, etc.), then “Notes Before, During & After My Endoscopy” which turned out to be not so clinical but thoughts about her mother, other family members, then, since she is a Long Island Girl, a poem about the Great South Bay.

I was next with 3 recent poems, “The Helicopters of Peace,” “The 6 of Cups,” & this year’s “Birthday Poem.”

The poet who signs up as Slay the Dragon also seems to like it here, began with a piece titled “The Writings on the Wall” a Raymond Chandler-like noir tale about a missing cat, then one about being back in the city after a retreat at Still Point “My Nature.”

Our host brought it on home with another lyric done as spoken word “There’s Nothing to See Here.”

Brass Tacks is now at The Low Beat once a month on the third Tuesday, sign up begins at 7:00PM, open mic at 7:30PM. Check the calendar at AlbanyPoets.com.