2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, December 11

A snowy afternoon, but it was early & we all know how to drive in this, right? No problems getting from Albany, thru Troy to Collar City Mushrooms, & by the time we were done, 2nd Avenue & I-787 had been plowed & I was home again. There were 5 of us for the open mic.

First on the sign-up sheet was Kate Crofton, over from Albany, who read 1 extended piece, “Store #224,” apologies to a lover while shopping in the Summer at Price Chopper on Central Ave.

Alexander Perez was here for the 1st time, also from Albany, began with a poem in the persona of a spider, “The Spinster,” then another with images of insects, bees, “On Bitterness,” then ended with “On War.”

Tim Verhaegen, who has been here often, read an essay about working for the State of New York for 30 years, & the endless meetings interrupted by meetings, “The New York State Division of Blah-Blah-Blah.”

I was the host for the open mic, as my co-host, Nancy Klepsch, hunkered down at home during the storm. I read, as I like to do each Xmas Holiday Season, Enid Dame’s (1943 - 2003) moving “Holiday Poem” with it’s stunning ending, “… we don’t need the solace of bought objects. We need each other’s light.”

The proprietor of Collar City Mushrooms, Avery Stempel, began with a poem about crows in Troy mocking him, then moved to images of Albany from the past, “A Trojan Reflects,” then brought us on home with a poem titled “Finding the Globe” captured by the song “The Last Dragon.”

& so that was the last of the year’s open mics at Collar City Mushrooms, but we plan to be back in 2023 each 2nd Sunday @ 2PM — bring your poetry &/or prose & read among the mushrooms. Happy New Year!

Invocation of the Muse, December 5

Our host R.M. Engelhardt introduced this night of poetry by invoking the “Muse,” a not-dead-yet poet from Canada, Ryan Quinn Flanagan, you can find some of his poems at his website 

Then on to also living poets in the room who had signed up for the open mic, with me being first, to pay tribute to a recently-dead poet, Bernadette Mayer (1945 - 2022); at many open mics I’ve heard poets introduce a poem by saying, “I wrote this in a poetry workshop with Bernadette Mayer,” & I had my chance this night to say the same thing before reading 2 poems inspired by being in a couple of workshops with Bernadette, “Saturday Hawk” & “Triple Time Jacket” (inspired by Ravel’s Bolero).

Catlin Conlon was new to me; she read “3 Vignettes on Loss” about her mother who she is “mother of,” & a piece titled “Buffalo, New York 2022.” Sierra DeMulder was also new to me, always interested in new voices, new faces; she read a piece about reading Mary Oliver’s poems to her grandmother in hospice, then one about regretting her wedding vows, & what she should have said.

Tonight’s featured poet was Thom Francis, who has a long history in the Albany poetry scene, dating back when he was a high school student reading in the open mics at Border’s in Colonie Center in the mid-1990s. He has been a host of open mics & Slams at various venues in town, was one of the founding members, & President, of Albany Poets, until its merger with the Hudson Valley Writers Guild where he is currently co-President. His skills as an “IT guy” web designer created the invaluable events calendar & dynamic website we all depend upon (hvwg.org) to find out who is reading where. 

He began his reading with a new piece, “Being,” about his head now cleared, then went back to a piece from the past, “Shower,” another recent one written yesterday in Stewarts, “Glazed,” on being sober & it’s struggle,  on a similar theme “I Used to Drink at this Bar on the Corner,” & “Rust in Hope.” Then on to older poems about his parents, about his father living nearby but might as well "be on another planet," & about his mother, “Listerine.” His love poem “Dirt” was about working in a garden, & he ended with the notebook jottings he titles “Time.”

After a short break we returned to the open mic list. Archie Marker said it was his first poetry open mic, read a couple of Limericks on Halloween, & other pieces, “The Modern Performer,” “and You Don’t Understand,” & “Change Your Religion.”

Our host R.M. Engelhardt read poems from his recent poetry books, from the more recent We Rise Like Smoke, published in July, 2021, & from Where There Is No Vision: Poem 2020, from June, 2020, both available from Amazon.

The next poet signed up as “Dan W.” but it wasn’t me, I had already read.; he has read here in the past, tonight, a piece titled “Haiku” (but it didn’t sound like a Haiku), & one titled “Let Go.”

The final poet of the night, Sandra D., read a piece I think was untitled about music playing through the rain drops, & another untitled drug poem.

Invocation of the Muse takes place (usually) on the 1st Monday of the month, but is sometimes moved to another Monday due to a holiday), 7:30 sign-up/8:00PM start, at Lark Hall, on the corner of Lark St. & Hudson Ave., enter on Hudson Ave.

Third Thursday Poetry Night: Jan Tramontano, November 17

Things are looking good at the Social Justice Center: the ceiling is up, but there is still more work to be done. Tonight’s featured poet was Jan Tramontano whose new book The Me I Was With You was published by Finishing Line Press late last year. 

Before we got to the poets here, I invoked the night’s muse, the gone poet Wendy Battin (1953 - 2015). I had met Wendy briefly at a poetry festival in Connecticut in June 2009 & my notes indicate I was impressed by the poems I heard. I heard 6 years later that she had died, but could only find a few of her poems online. In September of this year I was browsing in Dogtown Books inn Gloucester & discovered a posthumously published book collecting her poems, some of her essays, & essays & photos about her by folks who knew her. Tonight I read her poem “At Tanglewood” to bless our night of poetry.

Rachel Baum just started writing poetry about 2 years ago, & responding to the poem by Wendy Battin that I just read, read her own poem “Summer Concert,” descriptive & meditative. Joe Krausman (once called "a flinty elf") is habitually here & tonight read a poem in the persona of a wife of a gambler, in rhyme. Sylvia Barnard is another habitual reader here on the third Thursday, read a recently written poem, “First Snow,” as it looked at 3AM, also in rhyme. 

Jan Tramontano reminded me that she & I first met when I ran the Third Thursday Poetry Night at Cafe Web on Madison Ave. back in the late 1990s. A few years ago she & her husband Ron moved to Florida, but recently they moved back to this area & we are all the better for it. She began with poems from her most recent poetry collection, The Me I Was With You (Finishing Line Press, 2021), starting with the self-portrait, “Woman in a Poppy Dress,” then to a memoir of her father, “Undertow,” then one about her mother in the nursing home, “Solar Eclipse,” & “My Mother’s Silk Scarf.” 

Jan talked briefly about her novel re-titled We’ve Come Undone (formerly What Love Becomes), & her legal struggles with the original publisher, then read a short segment from the main character’s Blog, about the poetic form Landay used by women in Afghanistan & Pakistan (see  I Am the Beggar of the World: Landays from Contemporary Afghanistan (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2014).

Then on to a bouquet of new poems, “The Guiding Light,” a childhood memory of her immigrant grandmother watching the soap opera; “Mimosas At the Open Air Cafe,” memories of her father; a couple poems about her recently deceased mother, “Without Her,” & “What Do We Know About Grief?” She finished with poems about herself, “Grandma’s twins: Early Days,” pondering their birth & their future; a list poem, after attending an art class “What I Learned in Art Class;” & “Home,” comparing hearing frogs croak in Florida to bird songs back here in the northeast where she is back home.

After a short break for Jan to sell & sign books, we returned to the open mic & I read my poem for Wendy Battin, “A Ghost,” inspired by her poems in Wendy Battin: on the Life & Work of an American Master (Unsung Masters Series, 2020). Another frequent reader here is Josh-the-Poet who tonight read a new poem titled “Unexpected Love” which is really already inside of you. Marylou Streznewski (who will be the featured poet in March, 2023) talked about the recent Autumn, & likes October, read the richly descriptive “A Day In October,” dreaming in color. 

Sara Wiest was our last reader of the night, & she read part of a many-year project of poems about Demeter & Persephone “Demeter in Autumn.” 

Join us each Third Thursday of the month at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY at 7:30PM for a featured reader & an open mic for the rest of us, your generous donation supports the featured reader, poetry events in the area, & the fine work of the Social Justice Center.

Hudson Valley Writers Guild Annual Meeting: Poetry Contest Winners’ Reading, November 12

The genre for the 2022 HVWG writing contest was poetry & at the annual meeting most of the winners were there to read their winning poems. Interestingly enough all the winners this year were women writers; I haven’t done a “scientific” study of this trend, but it does seem to me, based as poetry collections published in the last few years, more women than men poets are publishing their work, perhaps making up for lost time.

The first group of readers were the those who had scored “Honorable Mentions.” First reader was Cathy Lautenbach, who had read at open mics in Albany & Schenectady back in the mid-1990s & early 2000s. She had moved & earned an MFA in writing in New Orleans, & recently returned to the Capital Region; her first poem, which sounded like a pantoum, was for NOLA; she also read a fascinating piece that she described as an ode to libraries titled “From What I’ve Read About Surviving,” filled with trees, stillness alone, even sailors carrying books. Another piece was titled “A Sermon at the Park,” then her honorable mention poem “Sonnet Before Dying.”

Laura Henebry confessed that this was the first time she has read her work in public. She began with her honorable mention poem “My Mother Tells Me Jesus Saves While Sipping Lemonade,” then a poem about depression & boredom, & another on a relationship gone bad. Perhaps she’ll be motivated to come out to some of the local open mic venues & read more of her poems.

Krisanna Scheiter is an Associate Professor at Union College. She also began with her poem that earned an Honorable Mention, “German Girl,” about the experiences of her grandmother who escaped Germany just before World War II. Other poems she read were “Vignettes of Trauma & Recovery” in multiple parts, then a poem titled “The Prayer,” & a new work-in-progress “This Place Was Not Built for Us.”

Phyllis Hillinger also won an honorable mention but was unable to attend the event so HVWG President Faith S. Green read Phyllis’ poem “Low Tide at Solana Beach.” 

At this point we took a break & had an opportunity to talk with some of the poets. Then on to the main prize winners. 

The 3rd Prize went to Caroline Grondahl for her work “A Poem about Credit Card Debt,” which I heard her read at the NYS Writers Institute Book Festival reading in September. Caroline could not be here for this so her poem was read by HVWG Co-Vice President Mary Panza.

2nd Prize was awarded to Nancy Klepsch for her poem “My Mother was Effortlessly Cool” that I have also heard at local readings, perhaps at the 2nd Sunday @2 Open Mic (at Collar City Mushrooms in Troy) that Nancy co-hosts with me each month. She also read today poem like a blue symphony beginning “Blue is a hard color…” then a tender, descriptive poem “Ocean Lover.”

The 1st Prize winner was Columbia County poet & artist Margaret McDermott who began with her winning poem with the marvelous title “Wading in Cloud Pools.” Other poems she read were “Bones,” “Questions for the Troll” about a homeless person & a dog living under a bridge, then “Proximity” which also included a dog.

It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon, how could it not include imaginative & engaging poetry since they were all Prize-winners? You can find more information about this year’s winners, & past contests at www.hvwg.org — & check back for information about the 2023 writing contest.

2nd Tuesday All-Genre Open Mic Out of Bennington, November 8

This, too, has become a regular on my poetry calendar, especially because I can stay home — it’s on Zoom. The host is Charlie Rossiter out-of-Bennington, who likes to do 2 rounds of 1 poem each.

Charlie put me 1st on his sign-up sheet & since we were close enough to Halloween I read 2 poems on that theme, in the first round a ghost poem, “Photo at the QE2, 1991,” then for the 2nd time around “Witches in my Attic.”

Sally Rhoades began with a poem written this Summer at a Provincetown workshop originated by the late Stanley Kunitz “Nonpareil for my Father;” in the 2nd round a piece written during the pandemic “No School Buses.” 

Kenn Ash’s 1st piece titled “Parallel Presence” was an eco-poem on bat guano; in his 2nd round a new, political piece “Single-Minded.” 

Bridget read 2 short poems from her series “Out of the Corner of My Eye” one on the flight of crows, & one about the secrets under the leaves; later a piece titled “Almost Americana” inspired by a Yelp review. 

Charlie, our host, in the 1st round read “Thanksgiving Letter” about the perfect turkey; in the 2nd round notes from the news during the Trump era salvaged from the old notebooks.

Julie Lomoe’s 1st round piece was titled “My Womb Dome” a long, rambling prose memoir of her involvement in the early women’s movement in NYC; then later, “Gin on the Rocks” from her series about the time she fell (did you know she had a sub-dural hematoma a few years ago?).

Tom Nicotera battled computer issues again, but was able to read the descriptive “Take Out“, then later, at the end, a piece beginning “we are all ghosts here” on aging & death.

But for now we ghosts remain above ground & hopefully will be back for the next 2nd Wednesday all-genre open mic out of Bennington (Vermont, that is). If you haven’t joined us & want to be “here,” email Charlie at charliemrossiter@gmail.com & ask for the link.

Invocation of the Muse, November 7

It’s been a year since R.M. Engelhardt started this new poetry series in Albany over at the Fuze Box. He still does a “Goth Night” there on a Friday night each month, but the poetry is now at Lark Hall on the 1st Monday of the month. Tonight he read one of his own poems (he was the night’s Muse?!?) his Stevie Nicks hat too big, to get us started “Bad Omens, Monday, November 14, 2022, the Year of the Asshole.”

Since I was up next, I wondered if he was referring to me — anyways, I read poems of ghosts & witches, the ghost poem “Photo at the QE2, 1991,” then the witch poem, “Witches in the Attic.” Josh-the-Poet followed with 3 very short love poems, “Calling You to the Moon,” one about being attached, & “If Love Was Easy.” Daniel W. (who was not me) read a string of Haiku, with titles like “Inconvenience,” & “Gentle, Not Kind.” The next poet signed up as “UNLOK (Gordon)," whatever that means, & performed from memory (or improvised on a theme) a long, oh-so-serious political piece titled “Stump Speech Part 2.”

Pat Williams has been showing up here in the last few months, & made his first appearance back in January when this series was at the Fuze Box. Rob introduced the feature tonight by highlighting Pat’s “sports poems.” Many of the poems he did read he has tried out here at previous open mics, including “The Trapped Beast,” “The Meat Grinder,” & a couple of villanelles. It seemed at times that he was parodying people’s images of what poets do, writing about “Nature & friendship,” often in short lines with erratic rhymes, but there didn’t seem to be any of the promised “sports poems.” I called out from the audience asking for a football poem, & he obliged with “Are You Ready for Some Football,” using language from broadcasters, with repeating lines. & at the end he read a plumber poem, “Drip,” for an eclectic mix of topics & inspiration.

After a short break, Rob was back “without further ado,” as he said, with the rest of the open mic list. Maurice, who is also a regular on the first Monday, read what he said was a revision of an earlier poem, the first part a description of a car crashing into a hydrant, then into a pensive reflection on a break-up.

The poet who signed up as “Irby Poetry” began with the teacher/preacher ploy to engage the congregation, “how are you feeling? Everybody OK?,” the recited a short piece on a toxic relationship. The next reader Shalom Harrison, had trouble reading her  poems, which were like notes towards poems, from her phone, one piece an engaging love poem about basking in the sunlight.

Rob’s poem “Nope” was like a barroom lecture on The Word, complete with the dubious description of poets as outcasts “with a higher I.Q.” — some do, some don’t. Austin Houston read early poems, “My Aunt’s Backyard” was dated in 2011 & was written as a school assignment, while “Neverland” was inspired by Peter Pan, whether book, movie or play he didn’t say.

Wil Lo was one of our bartenders tonight & came on stage to read a piece titled “The Juror” about being in court to support a friend for the verdict. John floats in & out of some the open mics with his poems on intriguing images, like “The Painting Room” & the extended metaphor of “Chess Freestyle.” Sandra D. ended this night of poetry with an auto-biographical, dysphoric limerick (of sorts), then a poem of angst against "the in-crowd."

Over the past year this open mic series has settled in as part of the monthly poetry calendar — 1st Monday, 7:30/8:00, at Lark Hall, corner of Lark St. & Hudson Ave., Albany, NY, enter on Hudson Ave. — open mic with a featured poet, $5.00.

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic, November 2

Back to Saratoga Springs again this month, a somewhat different night, giving fellow poet Joe Krausman a ride, we had dinner at Hattie’s before signing up for the open mic. The host of the open mic is Carol Graser who begins with a poem by some other poet, tonight she read Ada Limon’s “The Mountain Lion.”

The featured poet here starts on time & reads first because they are live-streamed on the Caffè Lena YouTube channel (which means you can use the link now to see this night’s reading by Susan Comninos). She read entirely from her recent book Out of Nowhere (Stephan F. Austin State University Press), not just poems but the 2 epigraphs as well. The reading seemed to not have been planned, but put together on-the-fly, at one point with only a few minutes left, she asked for audience input on themes to read. Her reading style suggested by the tone of her voice & pregnant pauses that many of the poems seemed to have ended before it was actually done, & I almost clapped a number of times at what would was only the middle of the poem. But you can check all this out online.

What is not online is the great variety of poets who read in the open mic portion (which is what poets need to do to practice & develop their onstage skills). First up was Mary Ann Rockwell (from the Saratoga Springs Public Library) who read W.S. Merwin’s grand poem “Thanks.” Michael Carroll read a poem that shared a title with a song by Donovan, “The Season of the Witch.” Pauline Boehm read a poem titled “Ennui” about Southern ladies & their mint juleps, then one that was a memory of wild horses. Todd Fabozzi read from what he said was his 4th book, finished this year (without telling us the title of the book), 2 rhyming pieces “All Days Turn to Night,” & “Emergence.” My traveling companion, Joe Krausman, responded to one of Susan Comninos’ themes with his poem in rhyme entitled “Gratitude.”

I hadn’t seen Mia Farrington here previously (but then I did miss some months in the Summer), she read a piece titled “Intimate Recap” a sort of introduction to who/what she is. Jan Tramontano has been a feature poet here, most recently in December 2021, her first poem tonight was one to her daughter, “Matryoshka Dolls,” then one titled “At the Nursing Home Window.” I read next, an anaphoric poem about Saratoga Springs that I’ve been adding to for months “Solevo.” 

I don’t easily have access to the sign-up sheet which Carol sweeps into her bag as she scurries out, so I can’t confirm the spelling of the names of the poets that she introduces; many I know from the past, or I simply resort to common spellings. The next poet was named Erin, or Aaron, who began with a colorfully descriptive piece about clouds, then, alternating from paper to his phone, read a sad love poem. Carol Graser read a piece on death titled “Mirror Nonet,” in a made-up form from, a favorite assignment at a Bernadette Mayer workshop for which Carol wrote the poem.

Fred Zieman (? spelling) read a descriptive piece about a town from his youth. Melissa Anderson has been showing up a lot at open mics recently, began with a short piece titled “How the Ancients Named the Seat of Passion,” then a piece inspired by a fragment from Marilyn Monroe’s poems, “Time Which Has Not Drowned Me Yet.”

E.R. Vogel is another new poet on the scene & read a philosophical, descriptive piece from his recently self-published chapbook Love Poems & Other Stuff. Rodney Parrott is a regular here at Caffè Lena, but still read 3 pieces (Carol said to read 2) from his series “Lucid Remembering.” Katherine Parker said she was reading a Haiku “string” but each section she read seemed too long to be either Japanese or American Haiku, so I’m not sure what it was she read but it was interesting lines.

Elaine Kenyon, who also has been reading regularly here, read an untitled piece of notes, descriptions of herself. Peggy said the piece she was reading, titled “Exiting Education,” about retiring, was unedited, uncorrected.” 

Cris Greco read here last month a noisy factory piece, this night read another poem about workers, a sociological poetic essay titled “ECR,” then a piece titled “The Last Man Standing.” Julie Lomoe who frequents lots of open mics read a piece from her ongoing memoir in-progress of her sub-dural hematoma “Gin on the Rocks.” 

I believe this is the only poetry open mic in Saratoga County, & has been for years. You can join it on the 1st Wednesday of any month at the historic Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St, Saratoga Springs, NY, — sign up for the open mic at 6:30PM, featured poet at 7:00PM. Or you can just watch the featured poet on the YouTube Channel.

 

Ghost Poems, October 27

There has been a long tradition in the Albany poetry scene, originating with events organized by R.M. Engelhardt, of Halloween-themed open mics but they had languished even before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But this year there was a rising from the dead at the Art Associates Gallery on Railroad Ave. in Albany, NY which had recently been the site of the poetry & art exhibit Poetic License - Albany. The host was, once again, goth/Poe/Baudelaire host R.M. Engelhardt.

I led off the list beginning with an old poem from Halloween years ago, inspired by Alan Catlin’s Killer Cocktails (1997) “Zombie Gourd,” then a poem only a week or so old “Witches in the Attic."

James Duncan has a new book out but read from an early book We Are all Terminal But this Exit is Mine (2017), a collection of short, short memoir, with a “true story about the ghost in the guest room closet," & another Halloween tale titled “October 31.”

Tim Verhaegen told a funny story of walking in Albany Rural Cemetery & meeting a “hot” gay ghost, the spirit of James Dean.

Josh-the-Poet read a dark poem about a warm spirit who has turned evil & cold.

Melissa Anderson read a piece titled “The Snake, or the Dream of the Werewolf” a meditation on tragedy.

Thom Francis introduced the last reader for the night who had been our host here, R.M. Engelhardt who read 2 pieces, a philosophical consideration of people & change titled “Some Spirits,” & “The Wolfman” combining a memoir of a poet from the early 1990s who read werewolf poems at the QE2 open mics, & of aging poets moving on to the suburbs.

It was a spooky night of poems of werewolves, witches, ghosts & memories of the past.

Third Thursday Poetry Night, October 20

The rehab/renovations are ongoing at the Social Justice Center so it is somewhat like having an open mic at a construction site. But that hasn’t stopped the poets from showing up, 13 read in the open mic, & the featured poet was Megeen R. Mulholland. But first I invoked the Muse, tonight the recently gone Southwest poet & activist Dorothy Alexander, I read her poem “Love in Old Age” from her collection Leaving My Father’s House: Poetry & Prose (Chapeau Rouge Editions, Cheyenne, OK, 2017).

Sylvia Barnard managed to secure the 1st spot on the sign-up sheet & read a poem in 2 parts about looking out the windows of her apartment onto Washington Park, the 1st part written last Winter, the 2nd part written recently. Valerie Temple returned again to read from her cellphone “A Friend You Doubt Means an Enemy Is About” about being abandoned by a “friend” while traveling in Italy. Josh-the-Poet was also back, read a new piece about treating people with mental impairments with kindness.

Liz Grisaru, whom I’d seen reading with her poetry group at the Writers Institute Book Fair recently, was here for the first time; she decided on a meditative piece in rhyme. E.R. Vogel was also here for the 1st time & and he read a poem from his self-published chapbook Love Poems & Other Stuff.

Our featured poet this night was Megeen R. Mulholland, whom I’ve seen a lot of recently because she had a poem in the recent art & poetry exhibit Poetic License - Albany & was one of the readers at the event in September. She has a new book of poems out from Finishing Line Press Crossing the Divide, which I had the pleasure to read in manuscript. She earned her PhD. from the University at Albany & teaches at Hudson Valley Community College.

She read mostly from Crossing the Divide with a couple poems at the end from her earlier book, Orbit, also from Finishing Line Press. First she set up on the construction scaffolding a small gallery of photos of her parents from the 1950s. Her father, who died when Megeen was just 6 months old, was a train enthusiast & photographer, the book includes some of his photos. “Survivors” was a poem about trains, & his family, & the poet sorting through the slides; the title poem combines a story of a journey he took by train & the slides he took; when her father died he was only 45, as she tells in the poem, “Heart Failure.” Not ever knowing her father except from stories her family told, she imagines him cutting the lawn in the poem “Hey Dad;” from a photo taken of her father she imagines him meeting Albert Einstein (“Top This”); & the sound of a plow outside her house makes her think of her father working on & photographing such equipment. 

She ended with a trio of poems about her mother, who was left with 8 children at age 42 when her father died. “Encircled by the Engraved Band” is about her mother's ring that the poet now wears, remembering it on her mother’s hand. From Orbit she read about her mother preparing a holiday meal (“Measuring the ingredients”), & ended with the subtle music of the poem “Well Well Well” about how the memory of her mother becomes a model for her bringing up her own daughters. This reading was much like sitting around a holiday dinner table, listening to family stories, as indeed it was.

After the break I jumped in to read a new poem that had been commissioned by the Writers Institute on the theme of “collaboration” for an event to honor the Opalkas on the 20th anniversary of the gallery by the same name; my poem was a brief history of “3 Guys from Albany.” Melissa Anderson was back again, her Summer job with the Park Playhouse inspired a poem “On Stage They Are Singing About Love” during a downpour.

Pippa Bartolotti mentioned her collection of short stories, in what is called cli-fi, title Black Felt Fedora then read a poem titled “The Dervish.” Sally Rhoades also read a poem by Dorothy Alexander “Carrying Condoms to the Revolution” from the previously cited book, a humorous account of bringing 40 pounds of condoms to Nicaragua. Tom Bonville, who had recently been the featured poet at the re-started series at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, read “Never” about an elderly couple taking their daily walk past his house.

Edie Abrams joined us once again read a poem titled “Coyote Nights” a tale about being “beguiled” by their cries. Joe Krausman used his magnifying for assistance in reading “Feedback” about one’s possible reactions to other’s comments on your work. Joan Goodman was the final reader for the night, her poem a meditation on “Finding a Place to Write” at night.

Join us on the Third Thursday of the month at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY at 7:30PM for a featured poet & an open mic for the rest of us — $5.00 suggested donation.

Poetic License - Albany Reading 3, October 18

The exhibit of poems & art work inspired by them, the project we call Poetic License - Albany had been moved from the Art Associates Gallery up on Railroad Ave. downtown to Lark Hall, & looked just fine in the downstairs space. The reading itself was in the yoga room which of course was peaceful & pleasant. It seems to have been a practice room for dancers since the wall behind where the readers stood was all mirrors, which meant you could see both the front & the back of the readers at the same time; that could be either a very nice thing, or a bit unsettling, depending upon the poet reading.

Rebecca Schoonmaker, from the Upstate Artists Guild, & her daughter, Lucia Mabel Smith, who actually has artwork in the show, did the general introductions & I took over as M/C. Lucia’s introduction of me was the greatest I’ve ever got — “Dan Wilcox is the bestest poet & the greatest looking old guy.” 

As often happens at the Social Justice Center on the Third Thursday I got to introduce Sylvia Barnard as the first reader, & she read her poem, “Pont du Gard,” about a trip to France with her daughter to this ancient Roman giant-bridge-aqueduct in the present city of Nîmes. I followed with a brand-new poem, “3 Guys from Albany,” which was commissioned by the NYS Writers Institute for an upcoming celebration of Chet & Karen Opalka & 20 years of the Opalka Gallery at Russell Sage College; I also read the quite short “Haiku Haiku.”

Aaron had to be convinced to sign up to read & he gave a performance of a piece about writing (or not) a suicide note (or not). Ellen (who had the greatest sneakers in the room) read a piece with the provocative title “Traveling with Four Straight Girls” & another titled “Home” about memories.

Rhonda Rosenheck had a lot to read & read it all, beginning with her new book The Five Books of Limericks a chapter-by-chapter retelling of the Torah, then a poem titled “Who Starts the Telling?” about a family, cancer & death, then one of her crime-story poems “Slightly Bitter,” written in the rhyming technique “tumbling verse.”

The poet who goes by the name Sincerely Donnie began by quoting Shakespeare then read his own work, a poem of anguish. Courtney Symone read a couple of untitled pieces, the first a pandemic poem of grieving, then one on the language of photography & racism, on the thought “the photographer is a soldier…” Austin Houston read a poem about aging & missed youth, then one on marriage titled “’Til Death Do Us Part.”

We ended as we began with the mother/daughter duo of Rebecca & Lucia, with Rebecca reading the poem “Like Lightening” by Shawna Norton upon which Lucia’s artwork was matched up, then read her own poem she had entered in the Poetic License - Albany project, untitled but beginning “I head into the woods…”

Poetic License - Albany brought together area poets & visual artists, which culminated in exhibits & readings at 2 different galleries in Albany, the Art Associates Gallery on Railroad Ave., & the walls of Lark Hall on the corner of Lark St. & Hudson Ave. It’s such a good idea that we very well may try it again next year. Stay tuned.

You can visit the exhibit at https://www.poeticlicensealbany.com

Writer’s Mic, October 12

Jackie Craven is the host of this monthly Zoom open mic. Tonight only 5 readers, so she tacked on a bonus round, that a couple of us took up.

I read a new poem, “Solevo,” which is also the name of an Italian restaurant on Phila St. in Saratoga Springs, NY, then a poem titled “John Lennon” for his birthday which was Sunday.

Susan Jewell is a persistent writer of ekphrastic poems & read “Cacophony of Small Things” & shared the screen image for the August Rattle ekphrastic challenge that her poem was based on, then another also submitted “Thursday Morning.”

Scott Morehouse gave a humorous theatrical performance as usual of another romantic vignette “Palm Sunday Ecologue” a scandalous encounter at the Baptist Church,  — “a hedonist in need of an anti-histamine.” 

Greg Manzi was new to this group & easily fit in, he read from his book

We lived like Kings, by G.M. Manzi published by Raw Earth Ink, a short vignette about “Holding the Door for an Elderly Veteran,” & a piece titled “In the Company of Gods, Venus & Jupiter.”

Jackie Craven read a couple short prose poems about home repairs, “Bad Boiler,” & “Ghost Flushes,” sounding very close to home. Then, since we were finishing early, Jackie asked if there were any takers for a 2nd round, most declined, but I decided to read one of my poem cards about baseball titled “Dusty Baker” & Greg Manzi read an amusing piece about talking & smoking in bed with a girlfriend, “Of Stupid Grins & Stevie Ray Vaughn."

If you want to join us on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7:30PM you can find the link on the Writer’s Mic Facebook page. Hope to see you there/here.

 

2nd Tuesday All Genre Open Mic Out Of Bennington, October 11

It’s a pleasant hour-long drive from my house to Bennington, VT, but now this open mic is on Zoom, it’s even nicer & I have been able to attend much more often than when it was a pre-pandemic in-person event. It is now in its 5th year emanating out of Bennington.

Charlie Rossiter hosts an open mic in Oak Park, Il,
February, 2014

Before he was in Bennington, Charlie Rossiter, the host of this open mic, ran open mics in Chicago where he developed a rap-like piece he uses as the intro to the reading. Charlie also likes to 2 rounds, nominally 1 poem each round, but who knows what will happen when a poet has the mic.

I was up first & in my 1st round read a poem for the end of the Baseball season, “Dusty Baker;” later, in my 2nd round read a new Haiku, the “Haiku Haiku.”

Mark W. O’Brien reprised the excerpt he read the last time I heard him on Friday, in which the protagonist in this novel-in-progress, “Escape” set in 1917, kills his friend at the friend's request. In his 2nd round he read a dream piece “My Equine Mythology.”

Jim Madigan, who Zooms in from Illinois, just read in the 1st round, a piece titled “The Calves of Adam Heart Mother,” inspired by Pink Floyd & the cow that jumped to the dark side of the Moon.

Sheryll Beddingfield also read only in the 1st round, a piece from a 2016 collection about people in a town in Scotland, the poem read as a curse for the children in her neighborhood on Halloween, a performance poem "A Spell Against the Tax Collector Who Harassed Women."

Tom Nicotera’s 1st round was a halloween poem, “Spiders Get A Bad Rap;” then in his 2nd round he read a new poem, “Fog,” a descriptive piece, sitting in his rocking chair writing poems, wondering.

Charlie’s 1st round piece was an ekphrastic poem & he shared the Zoom screen with a shot of the painting; in the 2nd round, a road-trip poem that Charlie is so good at, “Driving Red State Ohio.”

Bill Thwing piled all his poems in the 1st round reading short Japanese poem from Japanese Death Poems then his own poems responding, then a few more; had to leave before the 2nd round.

Julie Lomoe breezed in late in the first round while Tom was reading, then, muted but on-camera, spent her time looking through her poems, reading them to herself; when her turn came around she read a long piece of prose about attending the recent IWWG Conference, “Saga of the Viking Crone,” all about herself; the continuation that she read in the 2nd round was, as she said, “less long than the first part.”

A relaxed Zoom of poetry, prose, sometimes a guitar every 2nd Tuesday, you can be in Bennington from anywhere in the world. If you are not on Charlie’s list, email him at charliemrossiter@gmail.com so he can send you the Zoom link — you’ll be glad you did.

2nd Sunday @2 - Poetry + Prose, October 9

Back among the mushrooms, our co-host Nancy Klepsch is now working here at Collar City Mushrooms, not just on the 2nd Sunday. There were many of the “regular” folks here, but also a couple of 1st timers, even the return of a “rare-timer.”

Joel Best was first on the list with one of his classic stream-of-conciousness pieces, titled “Bad Saturday,” starting with light, moving through a Church, to bad wine, then one titled “A Cross Beyond.” I followed with a pastiche of T.S. Eliot’s first part of the first section of “The Waste Land,” mine a baseball poem for the season titled “Octoberland,” then one for a birthday today “John Lennon.”

Bob Sharkey is a long-time member of the board of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, helping to support the work of area writers; his first piece was “Heat Wave,” a descriptive piece of observations in his backyard written this Summer, & a piece he said “has no context” titled “Poem for September 19, 2022."

Nancy Dunlop said she has been battling mental illness since she was a child, read from her new book Hospital Poems (Indie Blu(e) Publishing, 2022) & read 2 pieces from it, “Spilled Milk” & “The Woman in the Grey Sweater.” Anthony was not scared off by his last time here read from his journal about hiking in the High Sierras, an entry from June 29, 2022, & one from the next day June 30.

Emily was here for the first time, perhaps encouraged by the reader just before her on the list, read about her favorite hiking food “Frosted Animal Cookies,” then another hiking-food poem that I anticipated would have a disastrous ending based on its title, the rhyming “Hiking with an Apricot Tree.” My co-host, Nancy Klepsch, read an eco-poem that brought historical shivers to me, “Ronald Reagan Removed Jimmy Carter’s Solar Panels.”

Milo was also here for the first time, read a poem about “a needy dog” titled “The Dog Whines Under a Blanket Pulled Over Her Head,” then the interestingly titled “Zonnet.” Rhonda Rosenheck finished out the afternoon with selections from 2 new books, one under a pseudonym, The Five Books of Limericks: A chapter-by-chapter retelling of the Torah, under her own name, & Tongue Twisters for Terrible People by Bud Rose, both apparently available through Amazon.com

& that was it it for this month. But we will be back at Collar City Mushrooms, 333 Second Ave., on the 2nd Sunday of each month, at 2PM — check your calendar.

Pine Hollow Arboretum Reading, October 7

Another local open mic rises from the ashes of the pandemic & other catastrophes. The location is now the Pine Hollow Arboretum’s Visitor’s Center in Slingerlands, NY, but the host is still Alan Casline. The featured poet this night was Tom Bonville, but first a bit of the open mic poets on the list, many of whom were slowly emerging from the pandemic isolation.

I was signed up first & read a poem about my experiences in Saratoga Springs, inspired by the restaurant on Phila Street called “Solevo,” as the poem is titled as well, & the seasonal poem “Yom Kippur 4004.”

It was good to see Philomena Moriarty again & to hear her poems, the first “a cautionary tale” written before she broke her leg, “Betrayal of Objects,” then one written in the hospital after she broke her leg “The Soul Appears to Wait.” Alan Casline read a poem by the late founder of the Arboretum, & regular reader at open mics here, Dr. John W. Abbuhl, a piece titled “Art” written 9/24/2011. 

Mark W. O’Brien read entry #100 from his Blog spontaneous/sonnets on Blogspot, then a segment from the historical novel he is writing using newspaper accounts from the Altamont Enterprise at the time.  Nancy Dunlop had copies with her of her new poetry collection, Hospital Poems (Indie Blu(e) Publishing, 2022) & read 2 pieces from it, “Handsome Man” & “Knockout.”

Tom Bonville was the featured reader this night, & he began with a poem about the trees “More Beautiful,” then on to a series of mostly sad poems about love changing just for the sake of changing, about the end of a relationship, of the memories of the beginning, & wondering, perhaps…  Then to a poem titled “The Procedure” about blood drawn for a test, then a related, humorous take contrasting a mechanic’s test of a car battery with a test for cancer. He ended with a a couple of water-themed poems, “The Pull of Water” & “Fishing the River at Troy, 1959.” 

I’m not much for “dead cat poems,” but Tim Verhaegen read one about a cat he had as a child, “Steven,” that was not overly sentimental & explored his emotions from hindsight, then accompanied his reading of his poem “The Geeser” with recorded drum music. Joe Krausman was once described as a “flinty elf,” read a couple pieces with his characteristic humor, “Giving Advice,” &, with a nod to the Greek oracles, “Oh, for a Nurse Editor.”

Paul Amidon has had a collection of his poems recently published by The Troy Book Makers, Relatives and Other Characters; his poems are by turns nostalgic, introspective, & humorous, as were the two he read tonight, “Dance Recital,” & “Revelation” on the affects aging as reminders of the past. Tom Corrado read a poem about a cat, filled with puns, & chess & movie references, “Searching for Bobbie Fisher in 15 Days” (which was the 2nd enjoyable “cat poem” this night).

This is perhaps the first time I’d seen Sam Trumbore sign up for the open mic, ‘though he frequently attends accompanying his wife Philomena Moriarty; he read a thoughtfully written “land acknowledgement,” so necessary & appropriate for this area with its rich Native history, then, in a related vein, read a piece titled “River Invocation.” Our host Alan Casline brought the night to a close with his poems “Mother’s Day Gift” (of mushrooms, in rhyme), another in rhyme “Song of a Game of Shadows” about a chipmunk & an eagle, & an Autumn poem “The Wanderer.”

This new/reborn event is planned as a series, but when still seems to be unsettled. Your best source of the when & where of area poetry events is the calendar on the website of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild.