2nd Tuesday All-Genre Open Mic Out of Bennington, December 14

This reading remains on Zoom because it makes it possible for performers from Illinois, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, even from relatively nearby New York to attend. The host is Charlie Rossiter who keeps us here by having 2 rounds of 1 piece each.

I was first in both rounds, began with poem from a visit to University of California at Berkeley that looks back to a poem by Allen Ginsberg, my poem titled “My Sather Gate Illumination,” then in Round 2 on to a philosophical response to a comment in a bar, “My Lucky Hat.”

Kenn Ash reprised the piece he read in Troy last Sunday (see my Blog) “A Xmas Farewell” in rhyme, a character wallowing in his memories, then a suicide. In his 2nd round read an anaphoric list of the big & small “I Am From.” 

Jim Madigan said his first poem “echoes Kenn’s,” with sad images from everywhere, titled “Unhearing Universe.” Later in the 2nd round he read a descriptive piece titled “On Spittle Beach,” on the West coast of Ireland, knocked down by the breeze.

Sally Rhoades read a pandemic poem, “I Haven’t Had to Change Time Zones,” looking back, a meditative review of finding herself, & memories of her mother. The 2nd time around she read from a poem-a-day project written to a prompt: “little known during her life,” a family memory triggered by a postcard about Aunt Grace, & her siblings, including  Aunt Polly, who has appeared in lots of Sally’s writing.

Our host, Charlie Rossiter, said he was going back through old stuff & found poems in WordPerfect, read one about being with his grandmother on a bus sitting with a black lady (& also started a discussion of WordPerfect & the changing world of word processing). His 2nd round poem was written in Bennington, “One Chilly August Morning Something Happened” a memory of Minnesota, loons, bacon, Scrabble, … don’t let the details get in the way of the poem.

Bill Thwing read about the Halloween onslaught in a suburban neighborhood, “Luzerne Street Never Rests.” In the 2nd round he played his guitar & sang his song “Riding on a Hurricane” written last year, on political themes & news stories.

Last month Tom Nicotera read a poem titled “Thanksgiving Poem at Great Pond” & today he read “Thanksgiving at Great Pond Revisited at Sunset,“ a descriptive piece & ultimately a meditation on God. For the 2nd round he read Robert Bly’s “Starting a Poem” with its metaphor of words as relatives invading your life. 

Tim Verhaegen also read a piece he had read this past Sunday in Troy at the 2nd Sunday @ 2 open mic, “A Boy Walks on the Train Tracks Alone as a Freshman in College.” Then in the 2nd round a gay relationship poem, 2 men on a date, “It’s a Miracle,” that they got past sex, actually exchanged names & went on a date.

Ah, the great variety of a poetry open mic. This one happens of Zoom on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM EST, if you are already on Charlie’s list he will send the Zoom link a few days prior; if you’re not his list, send him an email & tell him you want to read, charliemrossiter@gmail.com.