Book Launch:Burning the Ghost Light, September 21

What could be better? Poetry on a Sunday afternoon, at a brewery, & hanging out with other poetry friends: a redhead (Carolee), a blond (Jill), & Avery (the mushroom man) — a most pleasant afternoon. 

The book launch was for poet Caitlin Conlon’s book Burning the Ghost Light (Central Avenue Poetry, 2025) with a reading & reception at Warbler’s Brewery in Delmar, NY. The place was filled with the author’s friends & family, as well as surprised bar customers, & a nice spread of snacks to soak up the beer. I had seen Caitlin read at open mics in Albany sometime ago, enjoyed what I heard, & was curious about her book.

The book is structured as a play in 4 acts, with an intermission. Each of the acts is focused on a specific character, the Mother, the Father, the Lover, & the Self. And yet, it is a very personal series of poems.

Caitlin described Act II as the most “true” with poems written about her father after he died, while Act IV she described as “the most personal.” However, in her reading selections, she got the most emotional in reading “The Lover’s Finale” in Act III. In the poem “The Moveable Future” in Act IV there is the bittersweet line, “All you can do with a memory/ is remember it.”

Caitlin has put together a impressive book tour taking her out to Ohio & Michigan, but if you miss her on the road you can order her book online, or perhaps get one from her if you catch her at a local open mic. As my button says, “Support Your Local Poet!”