Unspoken Word - Main Showcase, October 25

This was a weekend (October 24 - 26) of workshops, poetry performances, & shared community space, including writing workshops, even yoga — & food! — in downtown Troy, NY. It was co-curated by poet-educator D. Colin & creative strategist Patrick Harris Jr., & sponsored by an interlocking connection of community activist/poets & organizations — Mary Panza, Hudson Valley Writers Guild, Poetry Motel Foundation, United Way of the Greater Capital Region, Connect Center for Youth, Capital Region Chamber of Commerce, and the New York State Writers Institute. There was an overwhelming schedule of events throughout the weekend. 

I was only able to make it to the Saturday night Poetry Showcase. The schedule had listed the event at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, but there was a sign at the front door directing us to Lucas Confectionary, a wine bar a few blocks away on 2nd St. Uh-oh, I thought, has this become another literary cluster-fuck? Fortunately not: it was a perfect location for an urban poetry event, I breathed a sigh of relief & sipped my bourbon.

The host/MC for the reading was the Poet Laureate of Schenectady, NY, Adonis Richards (aka Sincerely Donnie), who performed his emotional piece, “Shattered Glass.”

Earlier in the day there had been the Empire State Slam & a representative from the winning team, North Star Poets from Rochester, performed a typically intense, histrionic, entertaining Slam piece.

D.Colin was one of the organizers of this weekend, as well as being a dynamo in the local poetry/art scene; she performed some of her signature poems celebrating her Haitian heritage, including the title poem from her 2019 collection, Said the Swing to the Hoop, “Painting Flowers in a Time Like This,” & sang in Creole, “the voice of Haiti in my throat…”

Jade is a local poet/performer & recently returned from Gaza where she provided aid as a nurse; she performed “Community Butterflies.” 

Lynette Johnson dedicated her first poem, "Crickets,” to poets “on this side of the mic,” followed by an audience participation piece, “’Til You Do Right,” then its flip side “How to Ruin a Good Thing in a Few Easy Steps,” & on to unnecessary apologies “Unapologetic,” & “Transference.”

I’ve enjoyed the poetry of Mahogany L. Browne & was happy to get this chance to see her read in person. She began with a poem citing poet Sister Sonia Sanchez, being inspired by her & other women, then to an intensely political piece quoting James Baldwin, “every bombed village is my home too," & a piece on patriarchy & the rich & famous doing bad. Then to poems from her book Chrome Valley (Liveright Publishing, 2023), one part of “A Chorus of Hands,” “Do Not Make Grief Your God,” & “Black Girl Magic.”

D. Colin book-ended the night with her poem “Behold” (& another quote from Sister Sonia!), that is on the wall of the Albany Institute of History & Art in the must-see exhibit For Liberation and For Life: The Legacy of Black Dimensions in Art, at the Institute through December 31.