Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic, October 5

I was glad to get back to this long-running open mic & its featured poets. Our host is Carol Graser who welcomed us with a poem titled "Sallow," then introduced the venerable Joe Bruchac to welcome us with a greeting in the Abenaki language.

The featured poet was Lance Henson, who in recent years returns around this season; his native name is Walking Badger. He once lived in the Capital Region, & his son Michael was actually born in Albany. Joe Bruchac accompanied Lance’s reading on his wooden Native flute, beginning appropriately enough with “Rain Song” & the sound of birds. He read poems about his grandmother, on wolves (written in Bologna, Italy), & poems to other poets, such as W.S. Merwin, Miguel Hernández, Charles Bukowski & others. There were short poems like Haiku, & a poem in a Native language, that could have been Chippewa. You can see his reading, which was live-streamed that night, at the Caffè Lena YouTube Channel.

Then on to the open mic, with Carol starting us off with her poem “A Prayer for the Sorrowful Brain.” I followed with a seasonal poem “Yom Kippur 2004,” & one from years ago dedicated to Lance Henson “I Meet an Old Friend on the Subway.” Kate read 2 poems, perhaps  related, “Barefoot” & “The Child.” Fred Ziernan (not sure of the spelling) read a poem about the 1983 war in Grenada.

Elaine Kenyon read a poem with a punning title “Coming Day Dreams” on sex fantasies, & an old poem from a workshop, apparently without title. Leslie Sittner’s poem titled “Gun Power” was a memory of her father hunting. Pauline read a descriptive poem about her stepmother “Lucia in the Garden,” then a piece in rhyme “Little Red Riding Hood Revisited.” Todd Fabozzi just read one piece, titled “American Spirit.”

E.R. Vogel asked one the Caffè Lena servers to video him while he read his poem about an old couch & it’s memories. Chris read a noisy poem about working in a factory, then a much quieter Chippewa lullaby. Rodney Parrott, who is usually here, read a couple pieces from an early collection of his work titled I’m Embarrassed to Say.

Ian McGrey read a poem about a hangover “Limping Home Two Days Dead. Julie Lomoe was dressed in a colorful coat & read a poem about memories associated with the Hudson River “River Reminiscences.”

This reading by a local, regional, or national writer, combined with an open mic for the locals, takes place on the 1st Wednesday of each month at historic Caffè Lena on Phila St. in Saratoga Springs, NY. Doors open at 6:30PM for sign up, the featured poet goes on promptly at 7:00 with the open mic immediately after.