Saratoga Senior Center Open Mic, March 14

David Graham was the substitute host this day, filling in for Rachel Baum. He began by reading a poem by William Stafford (1914 - 1993), “At the Un-national Monument at the Canadian Border.” A suggested theme for this month's open mic was “Green” — in whatever associations, connotations, symbols, etc. that the word could imply.

Photo by David Graham

At this reading the featured reader goes first & that was Me! I bookmarked my reading with “Birthday Poems,” beginning with one written by the late Pierre Joris (1946 - 2025), written as if by me for my birthday in 2006. To the green association with Ireland & St. Patrick’s Day I read “The Sheila-na-gig” then a poem from my chapbook Ireland: poems (A.P.D., 1995) “Cork City Jail Museum.” For green being synonymous with the ecological movement I read an old poem “Message From Space,” often performed by 3 Guys from Albany. And then for green being symbolic of the season Spring I read Vincent Ferrini’s little poem “The Gold” (“we are the gardeners of each other”), & a couple of Haiku printed as poem cards, “Spring Haiku” & “Lark St. Spring.” I read my frequently revised (based on news stories) “When Donald Trump Farts” which could justify as being on the theme of green by invoking the emoji  🤢. The ending bookmark poem was this year’s Birthday Poem “Self-Portrait with Cat.” 

Leslie Sittner, who also frequents the Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic read a seasonal list poem “Critters in Residence” & their mating habits.  Marilyn McCabe’s elegy "Face" was a poem of memory & its loss, she also mixed in some humor with the seriousness. David Gonsalves read a piece titled “5 Green Lunes” — I wasn’t familiar with this modern poetic form created by poet Robert Kelly: a 3-line poem with either 3 syllables, 5 syllables, 3 syllables, or a variant created by poet Jack Collom, 3 words, 5 words, 3 words. 

Susan Kress read a poem titled “Brother” about an imaginary brother because she never had one, & the poem even had the work “green” in it. Rhonda Rosenheck read “A Red Springer” about a dog in her family when she was a child, then a poem set in the forest about pine combs & fire “Earth Watch.” David Graham finished out the afternoon with a poem that he said he wasn’t sure what it was about, “Everyone in America” — sometimes a poem just is.

This open mic is held on the 2nd Friday of each month at the Saratoga Senior Center, 290 West Ave., Saratoga Springs, NY at 1:00 PM — a featured reader & an open mic, the usual host is poet Rachel Baum. Join us to read or just to listen.