2nd Tuesday All-Genre Open Mic out of Bennington, April 12

It’s not a bad drive from my house to Bennington, VT, about an hour & quite pleasant in good weather. But with this open mic being on Zoom I can stay home in my jammies, & help the environment too. Moreover the attendance here has been good, tonight 10 on the open mic list. Our host, Charlie Rossiter, likes to do the 2-round thing, which is reflected in my writeup. 

Both of my poems were linked to the month of April. In the first round I read an eco-poem for the upcoming Earth Day, “2 Dreams,” on over-production & the inability to make some things more easily reusable; in my 2nd round I read a poem for National Poetry Month’s “Poem in Your Pocket Day” my poem/joke “April 29.”

Elaina Barrett only read in the 1st round, a descriptive piece about watching a hen teaching her young to fly, “Turkey Vulture View.”  

Naomi Bindman’s poem “Offerings” was written 10 years ago & is about Spring beauties, hepatica opening; for her 2nd round she read a chapter titled “Milkweed” from her memoir, this excerpt about being in 1st grade in NYC, learning to read & learning to write small letters.

Laura Ellzey also began with a Spring in Vermont poem, a descriptive piece about being with her dogs “A Bit Off the Beaten Path;” her 2nd round piece “The Swing” a joyful poem about a girl with her father & learning to ride the swing.

Our host, Charlie Rossiter’s 1st round poem was about driving home in the Winter after an oud concert; in his 2nd round he read a prose piece about being at a poetry therapy group, then remembering taking care of a big dog, like free-flow memory.

Nancy Klepsch in the 1st round also read a memoir poem, thinking about growing old, remembering her "effortlessly cool" mother in Brooklyn; then the 2nd time around random thoughts strung together, how the “Moscow-its” go for us poets first.

Bridget Elder had thoughts of Spring, on the the phoebes returning; in the 2nd round thoughts of Sunday in the town in Cost Rica where she grew up.

Jim Madigan was, as he usual, the poet dialing in from the furthest (i.e., Oak Park, IL); for his 1st round read “Maria of the Ocean” a moment in time in a bank line when a pregnant teller breaks her water, references to the Virgin of Guadalupe; in the 2nd round, a COVID poem titled “Come Spring” on the flowers of Spring & testing positive after going to the Green Mill in Chicago (a jazz joint & home of the poetry Slam).

Julie Lomoe repeated her reading at the 2nd Sunday @ 2 in Troy, NY -- in the 1st round “Gaia Cries Out for Help” 5 Haiku; in the 2nd round, her poem “Invading my Home Terrain” about hearing planes overhead while walking her dog, making her think of the invasion of Ukraine.

Tom Nicotera bounced around on the list due to problems with his internet connection; 

his poem “South West Wind in April in New England” was an effusive homage to the wind from the West; then another Spring poem “Weariness” hearing the sounds of a screech owl.

We don’t all have to be in the same room to share our poetry. This (all genre) open mic is doing just fine on Zoom. It takes place on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00PM Eastern time. If you’re not already on the list & you want to join us, email Charlie Rossiter at charliemrossiter@gmail.com & ask for the link. Hope to see you the next time.