Caffè Lena Poetry Night, July 5

I hadn’t been here in months, for one reason or another, but was especially pleased to be back again to hear my dear friend Jill Crammond as the featured poet. Our host is Carol Graser who started off with a poem by someone else, the poem titled “Not This.” This night also marked the 20th anniversary of the Poetry Night at Caffè Lena, the first of which was actually held on July 23, 2003 — more on that some other time/some other Blog.

The reading by Jill Crammond was live-streamed & you can enjoy the whole thing on the Caffè Lena Youtube Channel  I think the first time I heard Jill read was at an open mic at Border’s on Wolf Rd, Colonie, NY back in 1997. Tonight she read mostly from her delayed forth-coming book Handbook for Unwell Mothers (Finishing Line Press), poems, she said, written over the last 10 years about her life as a woman, as a mother, although the poem she started with, “How to be a Bully,” is not in the book. She is also a visual artist & arts teacher so some of her poets are titled “Still Life …” Another poem not included in the book was a recent one titled “My Daughter Says an ‘Possum is a Strange Graduation Present.” Her reading was characteristically ironically humorous, but I urge you to spend 25 minutes or so watching the Youtube video.

The open mic is not live-streamed so you will just have to believe me (or my terse notes), but fortunately this night I was able to grab a shot of the sign-up sheet so at least I can spell the poets' names correctly.

First up was Catherine Clarke who read 2 poems from her chapbook Oh Shining Moon, the first a love poem, then the title poem (no information on publisher, etc.). Mary Ann Rockwell began with a poem titled “The Auction,” then one about NYC “In Mid-town.” Frank Desiderio was in the area for the Summer but read a poem about Boston along the “Freedom Trail,” titled “Tourist Trap,” then a ghazal (you can look that one up) “Town Crier.”

Brittany Maldanado must have looked around the room & seen all the grey hairs, decided we weren’t woke to the latest poetry trends, & asked “Do you know what spoken word is?” (a snarky retort was on the tip of my tongue but I let her question die in silence), she went on to recite a typically long example with the requisite stylized gestures about the first time she “spoke to god.” Rachel Baum, who is frequently here, read a poem about a particularly memorable day in January a couple years ago “Tomorrow’s Civics Textbook,” the a piece titled “I Would Be That Bud,” another long-COVID poem.

Leslie Sittner read a narrative of the return of a red-haired boyfriend, “The Boy Toy & the New Man,” then a piece titled “Respite,” & then another what she called a “pull-out” what amounted to a short version of the other poem; even Carol wondered if that was 3 poems, or perhaps 2 +. 

David Graham who is a regular & has been a featured reader read “Forgetfulness” about the sequelae of his stroke, then a poem about men, “Hard to Tell.” At which point we took a short break.

Back to the prodigious open mic sign-up list, our host Carol Graser got us back in rhythm with her poem about a woman & her children “Here with the Rugged Picnickers.” 

Naomi Bindman’s first poem was a recent one, an eco-, list poem “I Am the Lake,” then a poem from last year celebrating “Wonder.” Wendy Daniels' 2 poems were about her gone mother, the first titled “Loved Me the Most,” then one written this morning titled “Stuck.” My 2 poems were also related, the first from an encounter right here in Caffè Lena in October, a fantasy, “Witches in the Attic,” then a mysterious follow-up “The Witch’s Necklace.”

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard Jodi Frank read her poetry, let alone sit at her table, she read just 1, “The Lord is Crying” an eco-poem in which “The Lord” is a woman. Dimitri Dow began with a political piece on modern “slavery” titled “Freedom,” then a sad poem on a high school suicide, “What Lies Beneath the Sleeve.” 

Jackie Craven hosts a long-running Zoom poetry open mic on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, Writers Mic, which I try to attend, so this was a rare chance to see her read in person; she read 2 prose poems about Real Estate, “Realtor,” then one about a bill-board blocking her view “Super-Sized.” Sarah Craig is the Caffè Lena Executive Director, tonight took a spot on the poetry open mic list to read an eco-poem talking about “when the rain fell down,” then an elegy for a cat titled “It’s Hard to Let Go.”

Lin Murphy read a rhyme about training to be a yoga teacher in her 60th year. Crystal Horn read notebook entries on being in the desert, then a piece titled “I Think” in which she ponders the uncertainties of her poems.

Sally Rhoades, a mother & grandmother, read a poem titled “How Do Children Grow Up?” a meditation on guns prompted by watching children playing in an airport, then one titled “Rock Courage.” 

Although Sierra DeMulder has published 5 books of poetry she has only been making an appearance locally at open mics during the last year; tonight she read from Ephemera (Button Poetry, 2023), but without mentioning the titles, the first, with grim humor, about regretting her marriage vows, the 2nd about reading Mary Oliver, thinking of her grandmother, discursive, pensive poems.

The Caffè Lena Poetry Night takes place each month on the 1st Wednesday, 6:30PM sign-up, 7:00PM for the featured poet who is live-streamed, then an open mic for the rest of us, with a 2 poem limit — $5.00. Check out the menu for food & drinks. Let’s see if we can make it last another 20 years …