Invocation, June 30

Finally made it to this open mic at Ophelia’s on Broadway at its new date on the last Monday of the month, this session billed as Poetry is Resistance on the Dead Man’s Press Ink Facebook page, as well as on the Indivisible events page, drew a good crowd of open mic readers & audience. The host is R.M. Engelhardt who invoked the Muse of Charles Bukowski by reading one of his poems that could be a rant, or just one of Buk’s characteristic cranky gripes. 

The familiar S.L. Maurice (co-editor of Dead Man’s Press Ink) was up to recite a couple poems from his recent re-publication of Vibrant Sounds, Colors in Motion, the title poem & “Spins on Change” moving from images of coins to the Moon. I had never seen the first edition of this book, apparently published in 2023, but this 2nd edition is an attractive, perfect bound 5x8 book with a good font size, & filled with poems & drawings, rather than a lot of useless white space.

Charlene followed with a couple of rants preaching the obvious, “Greed & Gain,” & “Hello Capitalism” in short-line rhymes. Pete’s poem began “Welcome to the Agora feast…” predicting the End is near.

Annie Sauter drove in from Oneonta; she began by talking about a couple poems she had written about the actress Anita Pallenberg (1942 - 2017) who was an Italian-German film actress who probably fucked all the Rolling Stones & who had a memorable role in the movie Performance starring Mick Jaggerl; Annie began with an untitled piece pondering “how many words do we need…,” then on to her poem “I Used to Want to Be Anita Pallenberg.”  

Our host, Rob Engelhardt, talked about President Trump’s “official” poet, Joseph Massey, & his poem “America: the Poem,” then read, what he termed, his “improvement” full of apocalyptic images & attacks on Massey, titled “America is Not the Poem.” Austin Houston read a poem about the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Trump last year, “Bullseye,” then a poem of hope titled “Forward.” 

I had never seen Sandra W. at a poetry open mic before tonight; she read a cluster of short pieces, like notebook jottings, prefacing one piece by saying “I don’t know if this one makes any sense” (my notes don’t tell me one way or another. 

Robert Zott is an artist & musician from Hartford, CT who had spent some time here in Albany as a student; he read a piece from his “Tombstone Poems,” & recited a song lyric “The Veterans Parade.” Jeff Brauer came to the mic to talk about his experience at the recent “No Kings” protest locally along Wolf Rd., describing it as “a sign of Hope,” in spite all the gloom & doom here tonight. Styling himself as Krishna the next reader said his piece was titled “Everyone Will Be Touched” (by what is going on now).

Stacie Leininger, another of the co-editors of Dead Man’s Press Ink brought the night’s readings to a close; she talked about the tangled web she was drawn into by the death of her teenage boyfriend years ago (you can read a summary on her website) then read a poem from her book inspired by those real-life horrors His Lies Did Not Erase Me (2024). 

A grim night with a few glimmers of the light of Hope — keep at it Poets!

Invocation, an open mic poetry series happens on the last Monday of the month at Ophelia’s, 388 Broadway, Albany, NY, signup 7:30PM, start time 8:00PM. As the man said, “If you have poems, fiction, or spoken word that you would love to read in front of a small group of people, we welcome you! If you're shy, DON'T BE! You'll be joined by a welcoming community of like-minded creatives who would love to hear your work!”

Third Thursday Poetry Night, June 19

A Summer (almost) evening with full list of open mic poets, even a surprise preview of Poets in the Park, & the featured poet, Rhonda Rosenheck. But first one must invoke the muse. In recognition of the day being Juneteenth, the Muse was the recently gone American poet, Nikki Giovanni (1943 - 2024), I read her poem “Knoxville, Tennessee” from her book Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgment.

First up on the open mic list, where she likes to be, was Sylvia Barnard who read a descriptive poem that began “Now it is raining again…” Tracy Thompson was here for the first time with a poem written in 2024 “Those Mother-fucking Founding Fathers,” a angry rant filled with statistics on the population that those mother-fucking fathers founded for. Elaine Kenyon has been working a project of responses to Stuart Bartow’s poems from his book Green Midnight, she read Stu’s poem “Hearts,” then her poem that riffed on images of drowning & a funeral pyre in his poem.

Tom Bonville read a poem about when he was 9 years old, “Reality,” about writing an excuse for school with his immigrant mother. S. L. Maurice read the title poem from his recently re-released book, Vibrant Sounds, Colors in Motion, a poem of memory & dreams. 

Rhonda Rosenheck was the night’s featured poet, who began with 3 short ones: “On Notice,” next an exercise in form (an American Cinquan), & “Paths.” Then on to more strident, political pieces all written during Trump’s first tern, “Harvest Moon” a critique of Trump, “Beware the Eager Prophet,” “Offer Me Gods” which is a “golden shovel” from a line in Rumi, then a poem in response to Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” that she read first, then her response titled “The Nothing-New Colossus.” She ended with what she described as a kind of a concrete poem on the page, with different fonts, styles, titled “I Will,” a tour-de-force on grammar on the tenses of “to be;” a friend had pointed out that reading only the bolded words would work as a poem in itself which she read as a separate poem, sort of a coda.

After a brief break, we returned to finish the open mic list, which I started off with “Acrostic Jazz,” a tribute to jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. 

A great surprise of the evening was the poet Jessica Femiani, who will be reading this year in Poets in the Park on July 26; tonight she read a new poem titled “A Recording of Now.” Austin Houston had read in Poets in the Park in 2020; tonight he read “If I I Truly Listened” (to the Jiminy Cricket on my shoulder). Edie Abrams read a poem about her cats Lillie & Petey.

David Gonsalves read “Secret” a love poem list of kisses. Nathan Smith said that his introspective poem “One Foot in the Stars” was "in the spirit of the recent rains." Our final poet, Malik, was here for the first time (always a welcome event) & read a political piece, “Free the World.”

The Third Thursday Poetry Night takes place monthly at the Social Justice Center in Albany, NY, 7:30PM, with a featured reader & an open mic for community writers — your donation supports poetry events in Albany & the work of the Social Justice Center.

DiBiase Poetry Contest Reading, June 14

This annual, international poetry contest is, in my opinion, the BEST in the world. It is organized by Albany’s own Bob Sharkey, & judged by him, his family, & selected poets, both locally & nationally. This year was the 10th anniversary of the contest. This reading of the winning poems & other entries was held at the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany, NY.

Bob Sharkey introduced the program, said that there were 383 submissions this year, from poets in 43 countries around the globe. Throughout the reading many of us praised the selection of poems & offered thanks to Bob & his family for this gift of world poetry. Early on the cash prizes had been provided by the family, but with some increased medical expenses this has not become possible. This year financial support has come from the Hudson Valley Writers Guild & from the generosity of individuals in our writing community.

Please note that one may find each of the poems mentioned below, as well as all the other winners, at the Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize website.  

Barbara Ungar started the reading off with her poem “Knocked Back,” written for the poets lost in the last year, which won an Honorable Mention. 

Bob had asked me to read the First Place poem, “Where Language Ends,” by Carlos Andrés Gómez, of Atlanta, Georgia.

Susan Kress read her Honorable Mention poem, “Fire-Proof Box,” with both her husband & her daughter whom are mentioned in the poem in the audience.

“Orpheum” by Will Nixon was a poem inspired by a theater in Kingston, NY, & was a Finalist.
Julie Lomoe’s poem “River Reminiscing” is from her recently self-published collection, Proof of Process, & won an Honorable Mention.

Bob Sharkey read “In My Home-town There Are No Apples” by Chuckwuebuka Alu, from Nigeria, which was a Finalist.

Anna Boughtwood was listed on the program but was unable to attend; her poem “HELL IS FOR HOUSE FLIPPERS” was a Finalist.

Barbara Ungar was back to read the Second Place poem, “You Can’t Put the Red Sea in a Poem” by Joanne Durham.

Mary Panza read “this business of her being older” by Anne Rankin which received an Honorable Mention.

Bob Sharkey read “Traveler’s Guilt” by Melanie Hyo-In Han from the UK, which was a Finalist.

Barbara Ungar closed out the event by reading the Third Place poem “Because” by Alison Stone; Barbara pointed out that there is a recording on YouTube of Alison Stone reading her poem.

Be sure to check out the Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize website for guidelines - you’ll be astonished at how simple they are - & for information on previous years’ winners, & for next year’s deadline.

Saratoga Senior Center Poetry Open Mic, June 13

With our Saratoga host Rachel Baum. Poets & artists helped to arrange/re-arrange/re-re-arrange the chairs.

The featured poet was Barbara Ungar, announcing “a special Issac reading” for this the birthday of her son, inspiration for so many poems, from her books. She began with poems from The Origin of the Milky Way (Gival Press, 2007), “Embryology,” “Matryoshka,” “Isaac Laughing,” & “Mine.” From Immortal Medusa (The Word Works, 2015) the poem “Brigadoon.”  Then on to poems from Save our Ship (Ashland Poetry Press, 2019) “She Drives Home After Viewing the Drown Quilt," “On the Scale of from 1 to 10,” & “Now We Are 15.” She finished up with poems from her most recent book, After Naming the Animals (The Word Works, 2024), “Luck,” “How to Age Gracefully,” & “AP Physics.” Of course the poems, even when inspired by her son, are not the gushings of a proud Mom, but respond to current ecological & political crises, as well as to cultural trends, often with humor, & of course, with grace.

Then on to a substantial list of poets for the open mic, beginning with our host Rachel Baum who read Dorothy Parker’s “One Perfect Rose,” then her own “If There is a Museum of Broken Relationships” riffing on variations/extensions of that. I followed with 2 poems about lady poets, “Sylvia Plath Slept Here,” & “for Marina Tsvetaeva.”

Apparently there had been a suggested theme of “luck” for the open mic, something I had missed, but others did notice. David Graham read 2 poems on that theme, “Self-Portrait As a Lucky Man,” & “Upstairs Downstairs.” Marilyn McCabe read a poem titled “Notre Dame” about being being in Paris at the time of the fire.

David Gonsalves read a piece on the theme titled “Luck,” then a recent poem written just last week “Ramble.” Leslie Sittner read a letter she wrote on November 5, 1963 when she was a literary volunteer in the prison system, to an incarcerated person who coincidentally knew her brother Lance.

Susan Kress read a poem with the word “luck” in it, “Wishlist,” then one titled “Waved Albatros.” Elaine Handley’s poem “Wedding of Heaven & Earth” was a Solstice poem.

Jackie Craven read 2 fantasy poems filled with lush details (like most of her work), the first a description of an apartment, “Zillow 3D,” then “My Unborn Child Lives in a Halfway House.” Joe Bruchac, Saratoga Springs' current Poet Laureate read a series of Haiku on birds, flowers & a willow tree.

This rare daytime poetry reading takes place on the 2nd Friday of each month, at 1:00PM, at the Saratoga Springs Senior Center, 290 West Avenue — you don’t have to be a “Senior” to get in, but it helps.

Odi et Amo: A Symposium on the Roman Poet Gaius Valerius Catullus

This symposium was held on the evening of June 12, 2025 at the Voorheesville (NY) Public Library, conducted by the esteemed Dennis Sullivan with an attentive audience of friends, colleagues, & relatives. I had studied Latin poetry at Fordham University but didn’t take the semester on Catullus (84 to 54 BC) because I wanted to concentrate on learning Greek. But I have read Catullus in various translations over the years. I’m glad I waited for Dennis’ course, I learned more this evening that I’m sure I would’ve in Prof. Peter Pouncey’s course.

Dennis had prepared a packet of over 30 pages that included the text of 8 of Catullus’ poems in Latin with Dennis’ translation, as well as commentary on the poems, including comments from other scholars. There was also a detailed “Prefatory Introduction” & an “Afterword.”

He described his process as not “translating,” but rather “transcribing” as “an eavesdropper on the therapy sessions of a young poet with his analyst,” the 113 poems as 113 therapy sessions. 

He says, “I remain stunned by the man’s insights , his breadth of knowledge — his command of Greek and Latin writers … but to me he’s a Beat poet … he’s Gregory Corso with a touch of Rimbaud but far classier than both together.”

In true symposium fashion there were lively discussions with members of the audience (class?), including on the infamous poem XVI (not included in the translations Dennis shared). He did share a comment from classics professor David Mendelsohn at Bard College, who in a recent article in The New Yorker, wondered if Catullus’ seductive power has “something to do with blow jobs.” Dennis’ comment, “Imagine: ‘blow jobs’ as a lost leader.” Look up poem XVI, or better yet, buy Dennis’ book of translations when it comes out.

Dennis said he spent 2 years on his translation of Catullus, who, he claims, made him a better poet. There are many translations, as well as scholarly commentaries, available, both historical & recent. Dennis recently assured me that his translation is on its way to the printer so be patient. I know it will be on my list.

Thanks to the Voorheesville Public Library, under the capable direction of Sarah Clark for making this event possible.

Pine Hollow Arboretum Poetry Open Mic, June 20

A gathering of many familiar faces for the open mic & for tonight’s featured poet, Tim Wiles. Our host now is poet/local-historian Mark O’Brien.

Tim Wiles began & ended his reading by talking about his performance role as Casey At the Bat when he worked for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. He has since moved on. His reading alternated poems about baseball with other topics of human existence; these included “Watching the Trees,” “She is Not a Chinaberry Tree,” (written in college), a poem about his mother “Toilet Paper Considerations,” one about the murder of George Floyd, “Dunes” (an old love poem), “The Break Up,” &, since we were at the Arboretum, a poem titled “Tree at My Window.”

As for the baseball poems, there were of course a couple about his time when he worked at Doubleday Field (Cooperstown, NY), “Doubleday Field Late Afternoon” (proofreading in the grandstand), & another about a strange conversation he overheard there one day; there was the dizzying poem stringing together the names of players that are actually sentences (e.g., Davey Lopes [around the bases], Ernie Banks [downtown], etc.), “Death then Heaven,” “Dear Mr. Buckner” (i.e., Bill Buckner, of the Red Sox, his tenth-inning error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets remains one of the more memorable plays in baseball history), “12 Short Poems on Baseball,” & “Pony League” from his pov in right field. Then he ended with a story of being taken down by the Secret Service in 2003 as Casey in the presence of former President George H.W. Bush.

A brief break then on to the open mic list. I was up first with 2 poems, “The Cardinal” & “Vamos Gatos” from my baseball chapbook. David Gonsalves read a rambling, meandering piece titled simply “Poem.” Edie Abrams read “Jewish Marriage Vows” about how a husband is supposed to satisfy & make happy his wife, then “My Cat” that she read last night at the SJC.

Mimi Moriarty began with a Cento, “Lines Stolen from Lucille Clifton’s ‘Mercy’,” then a memory poem, “Mother-in-Law” about their first meeting. Kathy Smith read a cleansing rant about her relationship with her ex-, “How to Bake Your Ex A Cake, the Bastard.” The former host of this series at the Arboretum, Alan Casline, read a couple of baseball poems, first a string of historical facts, “Take the Pope Off the Front Page, Yogi Berra Died,” then a piece of wordplay, “Baseball Blues 2024.”

Joe Krausman recited his poem from memory, on Death beginning “A poem walked by…” Tom Corrado continued his magnum opus, Screen Dumps, of random associations with #819, from this to that & back again. Tom Bonville read a piece about a regular column in the Troy Record he read as a youth, “Tell Me Why,” & missing the truth.

Paul Amidon read a poem about an abandoned church & the irony of the surviving sign, “All Are Welcome.” Our host Mark O’Brien began with a memoir of a childhood prank, “Chainsaw Pranksters," then a piece from his continuing series of sonnets, “Correspondence Sonnet.”

Generally held on the third Friday of the month, May through October, at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, Slingerlands, NY, the reading includes an open mic & a featured poet (or 2), 6:00PM sign up, 6:30PM start. Your donation supports the work of the Arboretum.

2nd Sunday @ 2 — Poetry + Prose, June 8

I was the solo co-host this Sunday since Nancy Klepsch was in Albany for the Pride Parade. & it seemed like some of our regulars joined her there or had other places to be on a pleasant (i.e., not raining) Sunday afternoon. In fact, there were as many non-readers as there were poets signed up to read.

First up was Rhonda Rosenheck who read 2 poems from 2015, a poem beginning “I teeter …,” then one written during the Arab Spring & the Occupy movement titled “Seduction.”

Tom Corrado has over 800 individually numbered “Screen Dumps” but this afternoon he read “a chunk” of them strung together from a new chapbook from swimming in happenstance press, particulars, without the number breaks — not that it matters. One can also check out his Blog.

I read 2 poems for the spirit (& reality) of Pride Month, “June 3, 2022” about Allen Ginsberg’s birthday, & “Here I Sit in Solitude,” honoring another great Gay poet, Walt Whitman.

This open mic for poetry + prose is called 2nd Sunday @ 2 which tells you most of what you have to know — the rest is that it is held at Collar Works, an arts collective at a former bank building at 50 4th St., Troy, NY  

Poetry at La Perla May 28

This is starting to become a habit — got to La Perla early enough to have a relaxed dinner at the bar, a few other poets at small tables in the bar area, then moved to the casual side room for the open mic. The host is Rhonda Rosenheck.

I grabbed the 1st slot on the open mic list & read a poem for Memorial Day, the old political rant, once the centerpiece of an abandoned novel by the same name, “Richard Nixon Must Die” (dedicated to ALL the victims of the war). Rhonda Rosenheck followed with a senryu titled “All the Wonders,” linking a variety of topics in a series of Haiku — yeast, salt, Godzilla, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Israel/Gaza.

Philip Good read a tribute/meditation, “Alice Notley Passed Away Yesterday” (poet Alice Notley, 1945 - 2025). Julie Lomoe’s piece “November, the End of the Movie” was a leisurely descriptive piece about smelling smoke in her rural neighborhood, then a newer piece inspired by a prompt from Michael Czarnecki on “hope.” Edie Abrams read a poem from her chapbook Mermaid in Metamorphosis (Benevolent Bird Press, 2011), “He Was a Self-Important Little Man,” then another somewhat related, “One Singular Man.”

David Gonsalves read 2 very short poems that went by quickly, “Sparrow” & “Siblings.” Steve Lawrence from the sponsoring organization Arts Letters Numbers read 2 short stories from an old notebook , “The Scene” (almost drowned out by sounds from the adjacent dining room), & “3 Shades of Blacktop.”

There was still some time left in whatever schedule we were on. Julie read a piece about her cat, “Sunny Mae Monday,” & Rhonda a piece about hair, “Wedge Cut.” It was still daylight when I drove home.

Poetry at La Perla takes place on the last Wednesday of the month at La Perla Restaurant at Gregory House Country Inn, 3016 NY-43, Averill Park, NY, in a pleasant room off to the side of the dining area. A special menu for the poets, drinks, or get there early & have dinner in the dining area or at the bar. Bring poems.

Poetry at the Arboretum, May 23

Just like the flowers, the lawns, the trees budding, poetry is back at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, with a new coordinator/host, Mark W. O’Brien. The co-founder of the series, Alan Casline, has passed the baton to Mark, but Alan was in the audience & read as part of the open mic. There was a good turnout of the poetry faithful.

The featured poet was Paul Horton Amidon who had the honor of getting 2 introductions, the first when Mark O’Brien read Paul’s poem “Man Planting Trees” from his first book, then Tom Corrado introduced Paul by thanking him for his years of friendship & being part of the poetry community.

Paul Amidon’s new book is titled Late in the Season just published this year by The Troy Book Makers. He read a generous selection from the book, & included a few poems not in this (or any other) book, including “First Love,” the humorous take on the phrase “Word on the Street,” “Last Train,” &, for Memorial Day, “People You Kill Never Leave You,” based on his military service in Viet Nam. Paul’s poems are straight-forward, easily accessible, often about memories, or with a narrative line. 

The open mic list was a who’s-who of the veteran local poets, beginning with Joe Krausman who read another of his meditations on mortality, “The Great Chain of Being.” 

Edie Abrams read a couple poems from her 2011 chapbook Mermaid in Metamorphosis (from Alan Caslines’s Benevolent Bird Press), “Courage,” & “Watched the Eddy in the Farina,” then another “Last Light.”

David Gonsalves read 2 short bird poems, “Sparrows” & “Tuesday Mourning Doves.” I don’t often see Ron Pavoldi out at open mics but when I do it is usually at venues, like this, in Slingerlands or Voorheesville, so it was a treat to hear this old piece, “The Big Bang Theory,” a tribute to World War II veterans, in particular to Dom, in a nursing home.

Tom Corrado said he has been writing his (in)famous “Screen Dumps” for 12 years now & I know from recent reading he has written well over 700 of these meandering pieces of stream-of-conciousness; he has also been self-publishing them in a series of chapbooks & read from the recent Jump Dump, which my notes say is #22, of which I have many. Tonight he gave me 2 more of his chapbooks, drivebys (2024) & particulars (2025) — now there is a dissertation topic for a graduate student of the future.

Mimi Moriarty read a poem written this year at Easter time, “Cousins,” in which planting daffodils become a metaphor for the family, then a poem in 5 stages, “Waiting for Tires.” This being the return of this series that reunites poets associated with various poetry venues in Voorheesville, I dug out an old poem that parodies a collection of writing by “the Poets, Writers, Folklorists, and Historians of Albany County…” that includes many of the writers here tonight, The Annals of Perious Frink (Benevolent Bird Press, 2007; my poem is titled “The Anals of Perious Frink;” then I read one of my poem cards, “Cafe Society,” recently published in an anthology of poems by folks living in New York State.

The venerable former host of this series & the published of Benevolent Bird Press, Alan Casline, read a piece titled “Screening Screen Testing Test,” layered thoughts on medical advice — or perhaps separate poems strung together. Tom Bonville read a short piece beginning “I slept to dream…” Mark O’Brien read a piece he said was inspired by Alan Casline, a sonnet based on a wedding notice from the Johnstown Daily Recorder in 1895.

This series is designed to take place on the third Friday of each month (but subject to getting bumped to other Fridays of the month due to program scheduling) at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, 34 Pine Hollow Road, Slingerlands, NY, sign up 6:00PM, start at 6:30PM — a featured poet with an open mic for the rest of us, your donation supports the work of the Arboretum.