2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, October 8

Autumn in the mushrooms & poems — Nancy Klepsch & I are the hosts for this monthly series — no feature, just a friendly open mic.

I was first up on the open mic list with 2 somewhat related poems (you’ll have to ask me): “The Phrasing Must Change” &, for Halloween, “Witches in the Attic.” 

David Gonsalves’ 2 poems were built on images, “Ember Watch” & Autumn Invocation.”

Bob Sharkey read a poem that he had read at the first open Caffè Lena poetry open mic in July 2003, his poem titled “Names” about the war dead, then leapt forward to a Cento on his favorite poems from this year’s Best American Poetry, an annual tradition, this year’s Cento titled “American Blue Song …”

Over the years Sally Rhoades has made her Aunt Polly (now deceased) a part of our community through Sally’s tender memoir pieces, today on the anniversary of her death a poem about taking the things from her house, “Dissembling.”

Rhonda Rosenheck has been busy organizing workshops & peer groups; she read a couple of poems written recently, a list poem “Not Opposites,” & one written this morning a catalog of (unorganized) stuff in her house, similar to Sally's poem.

My co-host, Nancy Klepsch started with an elegy for a friend “Dear Erick,” then a poem that proclaimed “Queer Magic.”

Julie Lomoe added to her TMI pieces (i.e., dead pets, rats in her bed in her youth in NYC, etc.) with a long, chronological essay titled “Proud to Be a Bra-less Octogenarian.” 

Naomi Bindman read her daughter Ellen’s poem (which became a song) “Grounded,” then picked up a guitar herself to sing about the liberation of running into unreality “Night Leafing.”

Avery Stempel, who opens up this space each month for poetry among the mushrooms, read a poem about this City, Troy, “As a City Grows.” Speaking of growing, whether a City or mushrooms, Avery announced a GoFundMe effort to raise money to buy this building, to continue to farm his mushrooms & foster poetry thru providing an open mic outlet for the poets of Troy & beyond to try out their work. Give if you can.

So for now the 2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose continues each month here at Collar City Mushrooms, 333 Second Ave., Troy, NY — 2 poems or 5 minutes max. of prose. & you can buy mushrooms to bring home.