Invocation, February 5

Formerly Invocation of the Muse, I’d missed this open mic, usually held on the 1st Monday of the month, last month when it was held on the 2nd Monday, when I was snowed in. Turns out The Eleven, at Lark Hall, where this is held, is now closed on Mondays, but opened, so to speak, for the few poets who show showed up this night. Not quite sure what the Future will bring.

The founding host is long-time poetry impresario R.M. Engelhardt, but this night his role was played by poet Samuel Maurice. There were 5 of us reading & a couple of folks in for the show, including Charlene Shortsleeves who still lives on Lark St., & Jen, the owner of The Eleven who was using the slow night to rearrange the bar. 

I signed up #2 which was de facto #1 & read 2 poems which were separated by years but united by theme, “Joe the Bartender” & “Birthday Poem 2024” celebrating 60 years of sitting in bars.

Josh the Poet, as he often does read a new, recently written poem, this one titled “Wasteful Energy.” Earlier, we had some time to talk about some of the recent poetry zines he had been reading.

John Allen made a rare open mic appearance to read poems from his chapbook from SurVision Books that had won their 2020 James Tate Poetry Prize, Rolling in the Third Eye (SurVision Books, 2010) including an Emily Dickinson word mish-mash “Purity,” & fragments of dream-like prose poems, with surreal clashes of images.

Sam Maurice called for a somewhat unnecessary break, time to refresh my drink, then when we returned Sam read from Bob Kaufman’s Solitudes Crowded with Loneliness (New Directions, 1965), the poem for his son, “Walking Parker Home” & “Benediction.” That inspired me to recite my favorite Bob Kaufman poem, “Believe, Believe.”

By this time Josh had caught his ride home, so John finished off the night with a couple more poems from his book, one to a woman, "Marlene," the other titled “Lunaire's Village.” In any event it inspired me to track down SurVision & order a copy of Rolling in the Third Eye.

For now, & until I hear different, this open mic takes place on the 1st Monday of the month at The Eleven at Lark Hall on the corner of Lark St. & Hudson Ave., Albany — but most other Mondays The Eleven is closed.