Next Year’s Words: A New Paltz Reading Forum, February 16

Susan Chute is the host of this ongoing series, this being the 4th program in the series 8th year, with featured poets interspersed with open mic poets. Tonight there were upwards of 52 folks in attendance on Zoom. She began tonight reading from Marie Howe on journeys & erasing boundaries. Then on to the first of the 3 featured readers.

Mary Newell is co-editor of the anthology Poetics for the More-than-Human World (Spuyten Duyvil, 2020), & as expected read eco-poems, others with strong connections to the natural world. From her chapbook TILT/HOVER/VEER (Codhill Press) she read poems exploring the use of the word "pith" (e.g., “in the pith of murmurations” of birds), & the Japanese kintsugi technique for repairing cracks in pottery with gold. & from her chapbook Re-SURGE (Trainwreck Press) a couple of poems about hummingbirds.

The first open mic poet was LaToiya Whipple who read a poem with the word “time” repeated as a rhythmic device.

Although Marge Boyle was an English teacher for 40 years & has lead writing workshops, this was her first featured reading. She read a series of short prose memoirs, “Would Rather Be Home” about of a dentist & a pediatrician in North Philadelphia; “Leaving School” about teaching & going to Europe; “Spanish Lessons;” & “Beaches” about her father & in Northern Ireland.

Back to the open mic, Ken Holland read “The Poetry of Lunacy.” I read this year’s  “Birthday Poem.”

The final feature was Kateri Kosek, who read a mix of unpublished eco-poems & relationship poems (described by Susan in her “glorious introduction” as the “ecology of human relationships”). “The Colonization of Mars” was a found poem from a student’s paper; “Astrological” combined ecology & astrology in talking about water. The poem titled “The Night Before the Capitol is Stormed” used a bear at her bird feeder as metaphor; “Luck” was a Winter poem combining butterflies & black birds & a relationship. & others.

On to the rest of the open mic poets. Raphael Kosek read about her mother, her daughter & birds in “Pine Wind.” Ken Chute read about the bombing of Al Mutannabbi Street book market in Baghdad in March 2007 during the invasion by the US (for more on that topic I highly recommend the anthology Al-Mutannabbi Street Starts Here, PM Press, 2012). 

Claudia Forest read a memoir piece beginning with the line “I gather sea eggs with my eyes…” Linda Freeman’s piece “Pajama” was also a funny memory piece citing a poem by Thomas Lux. Amanda Russell finished off the open mic with a descriptive piece out West again titled “Picture on the Book Cover.”

For more about the series & to get a link for the next reading you can find Next Year’s Words on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/NPNextYearsWords/

2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, February 13

We (your hosts Nancy Klepsch, me, & the poets who showed “up” - wherever that might be) - were back on Zoom (temporarily) again. Nancy handled the Zoom gateway & I took control of the signup sheet.

The first poet up was Bridgit Milman with an old poem I think she said was titled “Onus Americana” then one titled “Seaweed Tinsel” which played on words, “mer” (as in mermaid) & nipples.

Bob Sharkey read a descriptive piece about taking a train in Ireland, “The Iron Road to Dublin.”

Naomi Bindman read 2 new poems, “In the Sky with Diamonds” about a recent snow event, then one about an attack on fawns in her yard “Lament” (a prelude to which she read last Tuesday at the Zoom Open Mic out of Bennington hosted by Charlie Rossiter).

My first poem was this year’s “Birthday Poem” written at the end of January, then a very old poem for tomorrow’s “holiday,” a sexually explicit “Valentine.”

Laura Ellzey read an autobiographical poem from when she was 17 about drinking in a car & responding to a song by “Carlito” an Argentinian singer, then, to my delight, read her Spanish version.

Elaina Coe Barrett has been popping up at Zoom open mics & today read an older piece about a bracelet with repeating lines &, to my ears, a sexual sub-text, “Everybody Wants to Touch It,” then an all-too-familiar problem, “Where are the Pens?” (perhaps they have gone to Sockland?).

Nancy Klepsch said she has read her poem “A Dozen Blue Eggs for Bernadette” previously but has recently tweeked it, then an “experimental” piece in many parts that she was proud of being accepted by Fence magazine “Step to I Go All Rhythm.” 

Rhonda Rosenheck read a poem about being  at a retreat, “Whoever Heard of a Thunder Storm on Thursday Morning,” then a string of 3 related Haiku titled “Oasis.”

Joel Best’s 1st poem was titled, I think, “Divots” with the image of the Moon, then for  his 2nd poem he wondered why he titled it “Shutter House,” no one else had an answer either.

Julie Lomoe, the last reader, got in late, read the memoir she had read at the Bennington Zoom, “Bela & the Rats,” about living in Soho in NYC in the 1960s, the rats both 4-legged & 2-legged varieties.

After this brief hiatus back to Zoom the 2nd Sunday @ 2 Open Mic will return to an in-person reading at Collar City Mushrooms, 333 2nd Ave. Troy in March — no need for a link, just show up.

poetic injustice, February 11

There should be no need to wait to February, i.e. “Black History Month,” to bring an array like this of local spoken word & Slam artists & poets together. In fact, the host of this event held at the Troy Music Hall, D. Colin, presents open mics & readings & performances throughout the year at her regular venue, Poetic Vibe (find it on Facebook), as well as other community artistic projects. 

D. Colin started us off with the title poem from her book Dreaming in Kreyol (Empress Bohemia Press, 2015), with the stunning opening line, “I dream in a language that fells like home…” She is an enthusiastic performer of her work with a voice that rings clear like a bell. She returned later with another poem titled “A Drop in the Ocean.”  The program was organized to have performers do a piece, then return later with another, which worked well to keep the keep the energy flowing.

Samira followed with a protest poem, then later with a tribute poem both in a Slam performance style. Mojavi is a poet who has been active in the local poetry scene since he was a student at UAlbany, later ran the open mic series “Soul Kitchen” at Clayton’s Caribbean Restaurant, & was a member of Albany’s Slam team. He did a love poem backed up by DJ T.G.I.F., & later a piece on “words.”

Jamaica Miles is a local activist who often speaks at social justice rallies & demonstrations, tonight she was a poet with 2 personal poems that delved deeply into racism. 

Poetic Visionz is another performer who has been on stage in the local open mic & Slam scene, who often plays on common phrases & words to weave complex philosophical performances. Here he also involved DJ T.G.I.F. in his performance of  “Context Champs Everything,” & later read a love poem.

Zo Zigga did a piece written for this night titled “In Darkness,” then later one titled “Namesake,” both pointedly energetic performances.

The one fly-in-the-ointment, for me, was the stand-up alleged comic whose name I, perhaps fortunately, didn’t catch. Like nearly all performers in this genre he was arrogant, self-inflated & would pick out audience members to whom he directed his remarks. Before he told one “joke” he demanded the audience to “make some noise!” I was tempted to boo but thought better of it. Fortunately the rest of the show continued without him.

Angelique recited a piece from Ntozanke Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, then later performed her own wonderfully affirmative love poem beginning “Here’s to the honey in you…”

Justice was introduced as a black entrepreneur, did a piece drawing the distinction between “ownership” & “being owned,” putting new words on the central issue of slavery & racism.

Rae, a muralist, spoke on a similar theme, “The Contemporary Servitude.” Also at the end of the scheduled program was Tamika with a piece written on the spot, the performers inspiring even more work. 

Apparently I slipped out before the open mic, but what I heard was a wonderful, inspiring affirmation of the power & extent of the spoken word, working to counter racism, & to change, for the better, the historical economic & political power structures.

Let’s keep this kind of energy going in every month of the year.

& you don't have to take my word for it -- you can watch it yourself at https://youtu.be/XuArTWyyWLY

Writers Mic, February 9

Poet Jackie Craven our host welcomed us back into this monthly Zoom open mic, which continues to draw a stable of regulars, & new folks dropping in from time to time.

I read an old piece I’d read recently at Caffè Lena about a tee-shirt exchange with another poet (& other things) “The Tee Shirt Poem,” always fun to stumble over a poem you forgot you had written.

Nathan Smith also returned, with a love poem, “Why Shouldn’t I be Happy?” on memories & on holding on to being alive.

David Graham read a new poem that he never read before titled with a word I haven’t heard before, “Swive,” meaning to copulate, that he introduced with a content warning - what the fuck?. 

Alan Catlin read a poem about remembering the last time he had heard Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” while listening to it while undergoing a medical procedure, then the title poem from his book Self-Portrait of the Artist Afraid of Self Portraits, & another of the same ilk, “Self-Portrait as the Devil's Disciple,” from a different book.

Scott Morehouse read us another of his humorous, satirical pieces, this one titled “Thanks for the Memories,” a tale of 2 old folks who take a memory supplement, with some unfortunate results.

Naomi Bindman was here for the first time & read 2 poems I’d heard her read last night at the Zoom open mic from Bennington hosted by Charlie Rossiter, “Tea Ceremony” & “Morning Stillness” filled with brightness & coyotes, & a brand-new poem that she had dictated into her phone, “Phuckage,”  about the annoyance of less yogurt in the smaller package, like your candy bars getting smaller.

Jackie Craven read poems from her new chapbook Cyborg Sister (Headmistress Press) “She Never Answers My Knock” & “No One Speaks of the Empty Ghosts in the Basement Closet” you can order it here. 

Susan Jewell is a persistent, frequent contributor to the Rattle Magazine ekphrastic poetry contest (& has won a few), tonight she shared an image from the December Rattle, & read 2 poems that she wrote about it, “Pro-Choice” imagining a man with a uterus, & “The Rambling Boy with Eyes Like His” about her brother, a Viet Nam war vet & his Vietnamese concubine.

Always a pleasant way to spend an hour or so on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, without having to get dressed up & driving in the dark. You can find the link on the Facebook page Writers Mic.

2nd Tuesday All-Genre Open Mic out of Bennington, February 8

 It was quite a night in Bennington, or wherever “there” is on Zoom, with a record-breaking 16 folks in attendance across multiple states & regions of the USA. Our host is Charlie Rossiter who likes to do the 2-round thing & most stayed & read for both. It was way better than the Olympics.

I read first with my new poem “Whistler 2001” about my Winter vest & skiing, or not. In the 2nd round I dug out an old poem about one of my visits to Oak Park, IL to visit Charlie, “At the Garfield Park Conservatory.”

Jim Madigan split up sections of his long poem “Mount Rushmore & the Black Hills” over both sessions, in the first round the sections on Presidents Washington & Jefferson, then in the 2nd round the sections of President Lincoln & the great Crazy Horse.

Julie Lomoe read 2 cat poems, the one in the 1st round on the death of her cat told from the point-of-view of “Sirius the Alpha Dog”. In the second round about a cat named Bela that she had when she lived in NYC in Soho in the ‘60s, on sex & rats (2- & 4-legged varieties) & contrasting with Soho now.

Sheryll Bedingfield’s first poem, “Your Beer,” was a love poem of sorts about tasting a friend’s beer. For her 2nd round she read (the famous) “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou.

Kenn Ash began with a poem from a book he’d written (but unfortunately didn’t share the books’s title or other details) poem about rules, “Order: Keep it Simple.” The 2nd round piece was in rhyme, “I Ain’t Got Time to Be Dead.”

Mark W. O’Brien read from his attic, in the first round read about an old car, “A Visor for a Visor - What care I.” In the 2nd round a poem dedicated to & in the style of his friend Paul Amidon, “The Old Writing Chair.”

Tim Verhaegen only read in the 1st round, a portrait/memoir piece about spending the Summer as a kid at the beach on Long Island, “Grandfather Amagansett.” 

In both rounds Sally Rhoades read poems about exploring her own native roots, in the 1st round a piece written after reading Joy Harjo’s memoir Crazy Brave, “Sitting with Joy Harjo.” Her 2nd round piece, “I Can’t Hear You,” was written in 2014 after listening to Lee Ann Howe read at the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival in Ada, OK.

Our host, Charlie Rossiter, read “an old Chicago poem” in the 1st round, “Memorial Day,” which has been accepted for an anthology of poems about Chicago. In the 2nd round he read about a college trip for a long weekend, a piece titled “Snow Blind in Nebraska.”

Elaina Coe Barrett was new here, read only in the 1st round, a poem titled “Aged Out” about a ghost of herself in the woods, & a lightening bug.

Naomi Bindman, read a new, descriptive poem,"Tea Ceremony” for her 1st round entry.  Then in the 2nd round read about the light in “Morning Stillness.”

In his 1st round Bill Thwing read “Future Farmers,” about students keeping their hands clean  raising lettuce hydroponically with cell-phone controls. He brought our his guitar in the 2nd round for a new song, “A Jawbone of an Ass,” which to my ears had an un-stated sub-text.

Barbara Sarvis just did one round, showed us her painting & read the related eco-poem “On the Evening of the Blood Red Moon.”

Laura Ellzey responded to Julie’s dead-cat poem with one about her own cat who had died a long time ago, “Shredded.” Then in the 2nd time around a poem explaining why it is hard to get out of bed in the morning in Winter in Vermont with animals (i.e., the 4-legged kind) in the bed, “The Fullness of the Lack of Motivation.” 

Bridgit Milman read water poems in both rounds, 1st “Pleasant Bay” & what’s under the water, then later read about the joys of an outdoor shower in the Summer.

The last reader, Tom Nicotera, read in his first round a February poem titled appropriately enough “Light in the Window Late February.” For the final piece of the evening he read a prose poem by Etheridge Knight on the maze of bureaucracy, “Rehabilitation & Treatment in the Prisons of America.”

An evening of varied poetry & art, in the pleasant warmth of our own homes via Zoom. It happens each each 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM Eastern time. If you are not on Charlie’s regulars email list, email him at charliemrossiter@gmail.com & he’ll set you up. & remember to mute yourself when you are not reading, it makes for a much for pleasant environment for us all.