Writer’s Mic, December 11

This Zoom open mic takes place each month on the 2nd Wednesday & the host is poet Jackie Craven, sometimes in Schenectady, sometimes in Florida, & always a fascinating mix of poets dial in.

Susan Oringel read 2 “alphabet poems,” the 1st from when she was 17 years old, “ABCD Elegy”, a bit of silliness; then from a prompt in a writing group, “An Abecedarian of Plenty,” longer, more like a dictionary poem.

David Graham read just one poem, “Donuts,” his latest poem about a young neighbor’s driving patterns (i.e., doing donuts late at night).

I read the same poems I read last night on the Bennington Zoom, inspired by the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris 5 years ago, the direct response, “Tourism,” & an earlier, more generic poem “Church Burner.” 

Alan Catlin read from his, what must be, considerable archives, “The Hieronymus Bosch Sequence,” in 6 short parts, images from the paintings; then an old bar poem, about a revamped neighborhood bar, a found old poem “The Young & the Feckless.”  

Judith Prest read an intense poem in reaction to the Dobbs Supreme Court decision, “Under the Sign of the Rusty Coat Hanger” a reminder of the horrors of years before Roe v. Wade, tragically back again.

Ellen White Rook dialed in from Maine with what she called,  poems “leftover from the Fall, “Where the Road Was,” reflective & descriptive & “Triptych” with flowers, colors, & the Moon. 

Susan carol Jewell read about being confused by the games that the kids today seem to know so well, “At the Gaming Expo.”

Brooke Joosten was here for her first time open mic, read a short piece without a title, from a prompt about food (making paella), coming back to the suburbs during COVID & walking by the beach. 

Julie Lomoe also began with the same piece she read on another Zoom open mic last night, “Driving in the Darkness” on the anniversary of John Lennon’s death, then on to her favorite holiday parody sings “It’s the Most Over-hyped Time of the Year.” 

Jackie Craven read a couple of absurdist prose poems, linked pieces read together, the main character a the chief officer of the community association, dream-like images of a domestic dispute.

Writers Mic is a Zoom open mic held each 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7:30PM Eastern Time; one can find the link on the Writes Mic Facebook page — join us.

All Genre Open Mic Out of Bennington, December 10

The host is poet Charlie Rossiter who likes to do 2 rounds of 1 poem per round, & it works quite well. But first, his traditional “Open Mic Invitation/Introduction,” which I reference each time I write about this event. Here it is, courtesy of Charlie:

you can rant/you can chant/you can shout/get it out/get it down/get it off/off your chest/off the page // share your mission/share your glory/share your vision/tell your story/take a moment in the sun/the mic is open!

Charlie put me first on the sign-up sheet & I began in the 1st round with a poem I wrote about 5 years ago after the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, “Tourism,” later I read a related poem, “Church Burner,” written many years ago, well before the Notre Dame fire.

Cheryl A. Rice was back & in the first round read a memoir piece about her father, Long Island horses, & hay runs upstate, “Truck on Fire;” in the 2nd round she read “Subway Swans,” riffing on an image from a poem by Tina Barry.

Julie Lomoe’s 1st round poem was titled “Driving in the Darkness,” a rambling piece about driving to Schenectady to meet with other crones; later she repeated her poem from last month, “November the End of the Movie” a free-flow on the remnants of Halloween & the wild fires. 

For his 1st round poem our host, Charlie Rossiter, was accompanied on guitar by his son, Jack Rossiter-Munley, for “Stuff it Xmas Style;” in the 2nd round, his poem, “Drive Like Tollson,”was a descriptive recollection of an undertaker neighbor who drove real slow. 

Bridget Elder’s pieces where short, & shorter; in her 1st round, one written today on the colors of Winter; in the 2nd round, on the local (Bennington) politicians.

Kate McNairy joined us; she too writes short, enigmatic poems, one with snow titled “Loss” in the 1st round, then one titled “Memory” words & a saxophone.

Sharon Smith read in the 1st round about the grandmothers she never met, based on a simple pen & ink drawing, “Before I Was Born.” In the 2nd round she read “Word Tribe” a poem in her 2022 book Reflection, funny rhymes on the open mic community. 

Mark O’Brien read 2 recent pieces from his ongoing project of poems based on old newspaper articles. In the 1st round, one based on story in the Albany Argus in 1877 about riots to stop trains from going through Jerusalem (now Feura Bush) New York; then from July 1899 a story about a man trying to prevent workers from digging a hole for a telephone pole on Albany’s Maiden Lane (where there are now many such poles).

Sherri Bedingfield read poems about 2 very diverse (& distant places); the 1st round poem was a descriptive piece about a visit to New Mexico, “Coyote Chaco Canyon;” in the 2nd round a piece about visiting the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, “Standing Stones at Calanais” on the Isle of Lewis.

Tom Nicotera’s 1st round poem, “Coyote God,” was about a sick & dying coyote on Sherri’s Connecticut suburb front porch (& references her 1st round poem). Then, at the end of the 2nd round, a short December poem, “The Gift” crows like black bows.

This Zoom open mic is held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, starts at 7:00PM, Eastern Time. If you would like to join it & are not already on Charlie’s list, send him an email at 

charliemrossiter@gmail.com & maybe I’ll see you there (wherever "there" is).

Third Thursday Poetry Night, November 21

It is getting dark & cold earlier here in Albany, NY, but still the bravest of the brave poets show up, including a couple of new voices. In honor of the surrealistic bent of our our featured reader tonight, John Thomas Allen, I invoked the Muse of the French poet Paul Eluard (1895 - 1952) by reading selections from his poem “Liberté,” which was once once dropped as a leaflet in World War II over Nazi occupied France; I also acknowledged the 100th anniversary of the publication of the first Surrealist Manifesto by André Breton in October 1924.

Leading off the open mic was the host of the monthly poetry open mic (2nd Wednesday) at the Schuylerville Public Library, Elaine Kenyon; her poem was based on “the word of the day” from Dictionary.com in November, “Ab Initio” a sexy, humorous tale from chemistry class. 

David Gonsalves read “Elegy Shot List for an Art House Obsessive” a string of phrases, list of images, as the title says — hearing it once is not enough.

Melissa Anderson, a Future-Feature here at the Social Justice Center, read for the first time from her just published book, Dog Star Poems, “Time Which Has Not Drowned Me Yet” a poem for the darkness of seasonal depression.

Our featured poet, John Thomas Allen, began with a poem from Cemetery Tour (mOnocle-Lash Anti-Press, 2023), “The Polite Bride” based on the movie The Haunting of Hill House & the character of Nell, showing his surrealist chops; then to a couple of poems read from a notebook which he had a difficult time reading his own hand-writing, one about exploring the atmosphere of the liminal space of an abandoned bank building, another written in the Halloween spirit after the recent election. One can sometimes catch John reading at open mics at other venues in Albany; his poetry book Rolling in the Third Eye (2010) is available from SurVision Books.

After a break I read a Thanksgiving poem, from a prompt, “The Bird’s Thanksgiving,” with an oblique reference to poet Billy Collins. 

Tom Bonville brought a seasonal poem, “Thanksgiving Dinner,” turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, etc., the same every year, now his honor as the oldest to carve the turkey, deliciously descriptive. 

One of the great pleasures of being a host at such an event is when there is a new name on the sign-up sheet — this night there were 2(!) such readers, who arrived together. The first of the 2 was Shevoné M. who read a poem titled “No Time to Lose at 2:32AM” in pain over the loss of men in her family, longing for sunshine to come.

Next reader was her friend Nia Know, who was our last reader for the night, she read “Love Held Right,” a philosophical pondering, trying to understand what love means.

We gather each third Thursday of the month at 7:30PM at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY for a local or regional featured poet & an open mic for community writers — your $5.00 (more or less) donation supports poetry events in Albany & the work of the SJC.

Invocation — , November 20

This series, formerly at Lark Hall & coordinated by Albany poetry impresario R.M. Engelhardt, moved last month to the Bull and Bee Meadery & Tasting Room; I’d missed it then so wanted to make sure I got there this month. It is located on lower Hamilton St., tucked into the shadow of the MVP arena where this night the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was playing so parking was at a premium. The venue itself is tight, a short bar & a small cafe area with tables & chairs, just right for a poetry open mic. For the record, I had a glass of the Genesis mead, too sweet for me, which was a good thing, I drank it slow & only had one.

Rob began the night with, what else? an invocation of the Muse, a philosophical piece by Ikkyū Sōjun, a 15th Century Japanese Zen monk & poet.

Sometimes when a poetry series changes venues poets whom we had not see before show up & that was true this night. First up to read (there was no mic or sound equipment, & none was needed) was Charlie Lapinski with a poem titled “Then” trying to keep the memory alive of a Palestinian woman who fell through the ice in Vermont, then another poem, “It Isn’t Always Life.”

I read an older poem, “Water Planet,” that had just been published in Water: Life & Death in the Poetics series anthology from Bainbridge Island Press, then a street-observation poem from earlier this year, “Lark St. Jesus.”

Pat Williams had been a regular reader, once even a featured reader, when Invocation was at Lark Hall; he read 2 pieces with rhyme, “Repugnant Revelry,” & “Perseverance” a villanelle. 

I’d seen Harry last month at the Third Thursday Poetry Night; tonight he read a piece titled “Let Go” about the craziness in his head, & “Now” about online shopping, in pressured speech.

Cassius did his poems from memory, both untitled, in intermittent hip-hop rhymes & rhythms, with this quote somewhere along the line, “you may think you chose the Matrix but the Matrix chose you.”

Jeff read an intense, somewhat disjointed, love poem, emotions turned inside out.

Rob read a couple of old poems, what he characterized as “greatest hits,” beginning with “Alchemy” which has been included in a few of his collections, such as Alchemy, The Last Cigarette, & most recently in The Resurrection Waltz; his 2nd poem was titled, I think, “Mythic,” but I’m not sure if I got it correct.

Invocation is now at the Bull & Bee Meadery at 140 Hamilton St., Albany, NY, on the 3rd Wednesday of the month, signup 7:30PM, 8PM start — check the the events listing on the website of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, or on the Dead Man’s Press Ink Facebook page.

2nd Sunday @ 2 - Poetry + Prose, November 10

Among the mushrooms again, with co-host Nancy Klepsch, it was the exhilarating mix of frequent readers here & new voices/faces.

I had signed up 2nd on the hallowed sign-up sheet but the person who signed up first preferred to go later (you will hear more about that later). I read the piece I started off this busy poetry weekend with on Friday in Saratoga with my anti-war poem for the Armistice Day weekend titled “John Lees” a fellow Army trainee who did not survive the Viet Nam war.

Avery Stempel, who makes this space available to us each month, gave a brief summary of a panel discussion held yesterday on psilocybin & efforts to decriminalize it for therapeutic use, then read an emotional poem, “Putting in the Work,” on the very recent death of a dear friend long-time friend.

Joel Best said that the poem he read, “Anointed,” written this week (not on the election) was “maybe a love poem” — sounded like one to me.

My co-host, Nancy Klepsch, began with a piece titled “I Made Pizza,” then read one by Bernadette Mayer, “To a Politician,” an insult poem once published as a broadside by Alan Casline.

It was good to see Bob Sharkey back again; he read a poem about craving a kiss, “The Meadow,” then his annual Cento based on poems he likes in the year’s Best American Poetry, this one based on 6 poems & titled “Urban Vision Quest.”

Gary was here for the 1st time, visiting friends in Troy, he had signed up #1, then regretted what he had done; he managed to squeeze in 3 poems, “In the Waffle House” (a conversation, it seemed to me), “The Way It Happened,” & “The Green Man.”

The final trio of poets had first names that all started with “A,” 2 of which were “Anne.”

Anne (no last name) read “Grilling My Thoughts,” an angry letter to someone named Dan (not me!)

Amanda read a couple of emotional poems, adding to the heightened emotions of the day; “Blue Bell Sweetness” (a break-up poem), then what she described as her response to a hard year, “I Come to the Water to Cry” the water as mother.

The last reader was Anne Hohenstein, who has joined us here a number of times previously, also with intense poems, “I Am Not a Ghost” (with an epigram by W.S. Merwin), & “Deceit in the Wake of Death.”

Avery announced that he was moving Collar City Mushrooms out of Troy (the Collar City) due to his landlord having sold the building; he is moving up to space at Indian Ladder Farms. But Nancy Klepsch & I hope to continue this monthly event somewhere else in Troy. Our last gathering here at 333 2nd Ave. will be the 2nd Sunday in December. Stay tuned for announcements as to where we will be in 2025, information will be available on the 2nd Sunday @ 2 Facebook page, & listed on the Events page of the website of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild. I hope to see you there, wherever “there” may be.