Caffé Lena Poetry Open Mic Reading, March 5

Back to Saratoga to hear poet & teacher Bunkong Tuon, whose work I greatly admire & have  promoted by booking him to read at the Social Justice Center & Poets in the Park in Albany. & there was an open mic that is always interesting, sometimes even inspiring. The host is Carol Graser who began with a poem about doves by Marge Piercy.

The featured reader always goes first & is live-streamed on the Caffé Lena YouTube channel. Bunkong Tuon read largely from his “greatest hits” What Is Left (Jacar Press, 2024), beginning with the title poem, then on to “The Carrying.” He explained that he was reading poems that were central to his being, & described “Under the Tamarind Tree” as his “origin-story poem” as a refugee from Cambodia. “Debt” is about an imagined incident in his father’s life, a man BK had never know. The poem “Moon in Khmer” is for his daughter, & “Letter to My Unborn Son” is the last poem in the book. Then on to other poems not in the book, “A Hole in My Stomach” (on healing), a poem for his wife before they had children “Wanting Kids,” & he ended with a poem for his beloved grandmother, a prayer in the Cambodian language. BK is also the author of 3 other poetry collections & an autobiographical novel, Koan Khmer. You can find the recording of this moving reading on the Caffé Lena YouTube channel.  

Then right into the open mic list, with Joe Stamp up first with a chant poem on Time. 

Alyssa Starrantino said that this was her first time here to read & her piece “Looking Forward” was a letter laced with Joni Mitchell lyrics to a love interest. Effy Redman has been a frequent reader here for years, including as a featured poet; she read 2 short pieces, the first about Winter winding down, then “Beneath Bone” that was inspired by poet/activist Audre Lord.

David Graham is another frequent reader here (& elsewhere in Saratoga), he read a poem about waiting for the ghost of his mother, a World War II vet, to visit him in his dreams, “Impatient Elegy.” Leslie Sittner’s poem “The Guardian” was about her recovery after tripping over her dog & breaking her hip.

There was a short break (not the bone kind), then when we returned Carol Graser read her poem “Prayer for the Sorrowful Brain.” Pat Curtis followed with another dog poem, “A Winter Walk at Dawn.” Bob Duffy read poems he said were written by a 17-year old girl at the famous CBGB’s in NYC, the first titled “Vodka Veins,” then what sounded like a trans poem that began “I slit myself…” I read next, an older poem titled “Author Photo,” & then this year’s Birthday poem, titled “Self-Portrait with Cat.”

I haven’t seen Sue Jefts in quite sometime, but then I missed this open mic for the last half of 2024; she read a pensive poem written just after the November election, “Two Weeks Out,” then one titled “This In the Springtime” from Breathing Lessons (Shanti Arts Publishing, 2023). I recognized Debbie Miles when she came up to read as someone who once worked at the Albany Public Library; she read a poem titled “The Litany for Democracy,” a poem of history from Bob Dylan to now. Wendy Daniels read “An Understanding” in the form of a letter to her mother on bravery. Rodney Parrott read from a series of pieces he has published on his Blue Sky (bsky.social) account, “The Weapon of Compassion.” 

Alan Esperanza Lopez said he was here for the first time; I think his 2 short poems were both untitled, the first about making pottery, the second about a grey hair. Alan Catlin’s poem “The Battle of Algiers” was about the movie of the same name, then a tale “Grade School Chaperoning Field Trips.” Lee was the final reader of the night with a couple pieces in irregular rhymes, “Rock Paper Scissors” about things having been better before, then one on modern romance, so to speak.

Caffé Lena Poetry Open Mic reading takes place each month on the first Wednesday. Sign-up for the open mic starts at 6:30PM, with the featured reader live streamed at 7:00PM, followed by the open mic — $5.00. Refreshments are available for sale, including wine & beer.