2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, July 13

Nancy & I back together again as co-hosts after alternating months. There were 9 readers showed up for the open mic, including a new voice/face in the echoing chambers of Collar Works in Troy, NY.

Rachel Baum said she was able to get out of a recent writer’s block by writing rhymes for children & read 2 selections about dogs, “Airplane Pilot Airdale,” & one inspired by the mix-breed giant dog, the Leonberger, “Dr. Leon Berger.”

I read 2 poems with the same title, “July 4th in the Year of the Terror,” written by poet Charlie Rossiter, responding to the Summer of 2002 & the US response to the 9/11 destruction of the WTC towers, & my response to Charlie's plans to escape to Canada.

Joel Best's 1st poem was a love poem, “2AM,” then read one for later in the day, “Evening,” from one thing to another, something he does best. 

Rhonda Rosenheck read a piece from an assignment in a new creative writing proram, “April 4, 2026” a letter to a cousin about their family. 

David Gonsalves began with an aptly titled “Ramble,” then one titled “Long Story Short” about being "married to the daughter of the Angel of Death."

The writers today have read either at the music stand or from their chair. Co-host Nancy Klepsch opted to read from her chair; her 1st piece was a rhapsody filled with images of the sea titled “The Island,” then a piece beginning “Joan Didion is dead…” (or maybe that was the title), imagining smoking Marlboro reds with the dead writer.

Both of Bob Sharkey’s poems had to do with being on the edge of water, the 1st, “The Gail Anne,” was about watching a vacation boat going thru the locks & imaging the lives of the owners, the 2nd, “Home,” about returning to his home town in Maine after years, the changes & what had stayed the same.

Alex Peraza was a new face & voice for the 2nd Sunday open mic; her 1st poem, “Mania as a Form of Re-Decorating,” was about creating art through painting her room; she prefaced her poem, “The Hangman,” that she was OK.

The last reader is a frequent participant here, Anne Hohenstein, she brought her well-behaved dog with her; she read a piece that was a chilling description by a child of her bedroom, “Spending the Night,” while her 2nd poem, which was very short & untitled, went by before I knew what was happening.

Join us at Collar Works in the old bank building at 50 4th Street, Troy, NY, for 2nd Sunday @ 2, Poetry + Prose — 2 poems or 5 minutes of prose. Free.