Caffè Lena Poetry Night, January 3

A great way to start the poetry New Year with the open mic at the historic Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY. The feature was the Albany activist, poet & hip-hop scholar Victorio Reyes Asili with the the usual open mic for community poets, under the shepherding of host Carol Graser.

Victorio Reyes Asili was live-streamed so you can watch his energetic performance at the Caffè Lena YouTube channel. In summary, he began with selections from his verse novel The Tales of Happiness Santiago, an energetic performance of this visual, urban, surrealistic work — “magic is lonely without company.” Then on to an unimaginable mash-up of hip-hop & traditional white European forms (i.e., sonnets) “Crown Me: an American Mix-tape,” combining sonnets, erasures, prose poems, including the open form “1981” (after Afrika Bambaataa on Planet Rock), & ending his performance with “Sonnet #1,” a mash-up of Woo Tang Clan & Edgar Allen Poe. The Future is here.

Our intrepid hose, Carol Graser, started off the open mic with a poem titled “Shaking Hand” by an Irish poet, & on to the rest of us.

Rachel Baum began with a poem about her father in a rehab center, “Christmas in Florida,” then a piece titled “No Button for That.” Darcy Anne read 2 rhyming odes, one about “Rome New York,” the other “An Ode to Zapata,” a poem on chaos. David Graham read 2 poems about the New Year, the 1st his own from a few years ago, “New Year Full Moon,” the 2nd titled “Small Lesson” by Canadian poet Lorna Crozier.

Next was my favorite father-daughter team of poets; Lance Le Grys read 1st, an eco-poem about golfers titled “Here.” Alex Le Grys, home on break from college in Canada, began with, as she said, “not a very nice poem” addressed to a school friend, “A Galaxy that Doesn’t Exist,” then a poem with a title that explains it all “Listening to Elliot Smith (1969 - 2003) with my Black Cat” (the album she was listening to was “Figure 8”).

A regular here in the open mic, Leslie Sittner, read her descriptive poem “Super Blue Moon” from August, then read a Haiku written by her 15-year old grandson. I read my poem “Writing Crows” that had been in the Art Society of Kingston’s Poetic License exhibit in 2021; then an old poem recently printed in Dissent: an anthology to end war and capitalism (Vagabond Press), “A Shill at the Fair.” Saratoga Spring’s Poet Laureate, Joe Bruchac, read a poem he wrote last night, “Velocity,” an eco-poem, looking to his end.

After a short, refreshing beak, our host Carol Graser returned with a tender poem about her father, “On the 6th Floor of the VA Medical Center.” 

Bridgette Gallagher brought some of her students of creative writing, & set a good example by reading 2 poems, the 1st about teaching creative writing, “I Am the Holder of Stories,” then one for her daughter “Painting Over Pink.” One of the students, Mimi Hrbeck, read next, 2 short, introspective poems.

Carol Schupy Star read 2 poems about the Moon, “Moon Silhouette,” & “Moonlight.” Joan Tepper-Neal was here for the 1st time, read a harrowing poem in 2 parts about being in the hospital to be treated for a prolapse “The Monster.” Brooke a poem on a more pleasant topic, what she would like her children say about her, “Say of Her.”

Elaine Kenyon reads frequently here in the open mic, & tonight read her poem “I Want” responding to a poem someone read here last month, then a poem about being 19 years old — her poems introspective, celebratory. Wendy Daniels also reads here frequently; her poem “Too Soon” was a sad piece from her experience being a military spouse, her husband deployed; then she read a poem titled “Bus Stop” by Kate Baer from What Kind of Woman (Harper Perennial, 2020).

Sam, another one of Bridgette Gallagher’s students, read her poem “The Problem with Pantoums” (comparing the poem to the pain of the World), then the more mundane “Ode to My Upset Stomach” perhaps one of her writing assignments. Mary Ann Rockwell was the night’s last reader; she read “After the Estate Sale,” which she said she had read here previously, but this is version 2, then a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye “Burning the Old Year,” a good choice to end on.

As the new year continues, plan on coming to the Caffè Lena Poetry Night on the first Wednesday of the month, 47 Phila St. — 7:00PM featured poet (live-streamed), followed by an open mic for community poets — doors open 6:30PM — $5.00 (students free).