2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, November 8

Formerly at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy, this open mic now can be joined by anyone, anywhere on Zoom. Nancy Klepsch & I are the co-hosts, though it’s a bit more awkward on this platform.

There were only a few of us at first so I read as others found their way in. I began with an older piece, my first Trump poem from 4 years ago, “When Donald Trump Farts,” then a new, shorter piece “Ancestry.com.”

Bob Sharkey confronted the traffic pattern around Albany’s City Hall, “The Day Alice Green Drove Around the Philip Schulyer Statue” one of the practical advantages of taking down the statue of the Albany slave-owner, then bits & pieces, descriptive note from “Summer 2020.”

Tara Kistler charmed us with the humorous rhymes of “Shakespeare’s Lament” on Evangelicals & the election.

Joel Best read a pandemic poem “Fancy Week” in which each day is pretty much the same, then contemplated “At the End” & swimming to Enlightenment.

Julie Lomoe read 2 humorous pieces from a workshop, “The Theory of Wastebaskets" & the funny list poem “I’d Like a New Sofa.”

Nancy Klepsch read a tender love poem titled simply “Dearest.”

Sally Rhoades got through some technical difficulties to get in eventually (what people will do to be at an open mic!) to read a tribute to Walt Whitman, a memoir of reading his work in college.

There was time left for a free-flowing discussion of reactions to the recent election. I doubt it will change what I do each week -- attending peace vigils, rallies & other demonstrations to bring about the change that I want to see. Democracy thrives on conflict, unity is for dictatorships.