Third Thursday Poetry Night, December 18

Enid Dame

Sanity Clause was in the house for the annual holiday open mic (but as Chico Marx once said, “everyone knows there is no sanity clause…”), & another tradition was the reading of the great, gone poet, Enid Dame’s, “Holiday Poem.” Tonight’s featured poet was Anna Boughtwood — but first a few of the open mic readers.

First on the list was Avery Stempel reading from a series of poems about walking around NYC, “Train to Penn Station” on the way there. Tom Bonville read about really writing, “Now I Know,” practicing in front of a mirror. — But Sanity Clause forgot what he was doing until reminded by the next reader that Sanity Clause needed to hand out the Xmas gift of poetry to each of the readers. & then we could proceed. 

David Gonsalves' “Touchstone,” a meditation on reincarnation, was inspired by a painting of the Eye of Horus on the side of a barn. Cat Syman was here for the first time, lucky her to join us for the raucous chaos of the holiday event; her poem, “Dear ChatGPT,” is a wish list letter of tasks for the computer to take on, poignant & humorous, satirical. 

Anna Boughtwood is an Albany poet who is active in the re-birth of the zine scene locally. She read a string of generally short poems, each with a succinct introduction, starting with a couple of house poems, the first, “Hell is For House Slippers” followed by a poem from a dream abut a house she will never have. But from then on the poems were nearly all satirical commentaries on the medical industry & her dealing with chronic illness, with such titles as “But Have You Tried Yoga?,” or “Please Arrive by 7:45 AM Reply 1 to confirm” (a satire of the questions on medical forms), or imagining a vacation instead of medical procedures & visits to CVS in “Vacation Leave in Lieu of Sick Leave.” In response to a question, “do you have any good veins?” she imagines the “good vein” on her left arm as a polite, honor roll student, & in response to a biopsy that sounded like an ear-piercing gun she wrote “I’m Getting My Next Biopsy at Claire’s.” Another poem championed the writing of her Diary in spiral notebooks in pen rather than on social media. She ended with recently written work, both love poems, “This Touch the Weight of Us” & a series of micro poems, barely a line or two long each, “Your Touch Loves the Distance.” Richly imagined, humorous, & personal poems well read.

After a short break we were back with the rest of the open mic writers but first I joined the list with an old poem, “Winter Light,” a rant against the season. 

The first of the rest of the list was Juni, whom I’d seen read at Paper Mood in Troy in August; tonight she read a poem responding to a comment from a barely named public figure (i.e., RFK Jr.) who said he had never written a poem (in addition to his remarks on autism), she read a poem to him & “hoped to make a gender neutral bathroom” of his grave.

Elaine Kenyon read a longer piece responding to, & in the style of, Andrea Gibson’s slam poems, on her image, & school bullies. Sally Rhoades is also a regular here, & elsewhere, read a long poem titled, “Long Shadows,” a love poem about hold hands with her husband mixed in with memories of her family — then she did as she does each year, sat on Sanity Clause’s lap. & the final open mic reader of the night Mena, “This Is What I Imagined Chicago is Like (I’ve Never Been to Chicago),” filled with precise images & family memories. 

(At this point I’d like to acknowledge the generosity of the writers who have come to this reading & open mic throughout the year. Your contributions help pay the featured reader & support the work of the Social Justice Center, & this year your donations to the passing of the hat have made it possible to contribute a total of $412 to the Center. Thank you everyone! & Keep Writing.)

This event takes place each third Thursday of the month at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY at 7:30PM with a local or regional writer as the featured reader & an open mic for the rest of us. Thank you again for your generosity & for your words.