Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic, March 24

For one reason or another, mostly the Winter weather, this is the first time I’ve been to the Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic this year & the first time I’ve been here since the switch to the 4th Tuesday. But it seems timeless once I walked through the door, same wonderful, eclectic poets, 1st class featured readers (tonight, Natalya Sukhonos), same witty host, Carol Graser, who began this night with an eco-poem by Martha Silano, “Can’t Complain,” from her book Terminal Surreal (Acre Books, 2025).

Natalya Sukhonos is a native of Odessa, Ukraine, a poet, scholar, & teacher. Tonight, she read from her new book of poems Sunlight Trapped in Stone (Green Writers Press, 2026), a generous selection from each of the 3 sections of the book, “Fossilized Sunlight,” “Border Crossings,” & “Limpid Stone,” ending with a love poem to her husband, “I Heard the Sea’s Voice in Your Voice.” She also included some pieces of her translation project to bring the work of Ukrainian writers to the English-speaking world. You can see her reading on the Caffè Lena YouTube channel. Be patient, Natalya’s reading begins a little over 6 minutes in.

Then on to the open mic sign up sheet with the 1st reader David Graham with an unfinished poem from 2020, “Hard Winter.” Joe Caresello was new here at the Caffè Lena, & read “Immigrant Example,” & a piece apparently from his book, “I Know I Don’t Know.” Cathy Clarke read a seasonal piece “March,” then one for her brother & his wife, “The May Time.” Leslie Sittner is a frequent reader here, read “Wallowing in Sloth” for her dog, then a poem from a workshop, “Unventured Servitude.” Pat Curtis read “Alphabet Junk,” a funny alphabet poem in rhyme for her grandson.

We took a short break, then returned to the open mic with Carol Graser reading a poem, “That Winter,” from her new book Prayer for the Sorrowful Brain (Kelsay Books, 2025). 

Lancelot Barber said that this was his 1st time reading at an open mic & shared an intense screed titled incongruously “Love is Only the Real Thing We Got.” Peg Clarke’s 2 poems were seasonal observations, “A Waltz in the Wind” & “Unopened” about cardinals in her yard. David Goren read a poem about the hard Winter, “A Moon’s Moon.” Ian Singleton (who is Natalya Sukhonos’ husband) read a translation from the Russian by a poet whose name I didn’t get, “Cathedral Square in Odessa.”

Charlie Lapinski was another poet with season poems, “Crossing the Border” about the migration of butterflies (& people?), & “Predator” about an owl. I read my poem about a recent Amtrak trip from Philadelphia to Albany, at the William H. Gray III 30th St. Station, “The Sparrows of Amtrak.” Melissa Anderson, from the Café Euphoria Slam Team, read a love poem that she characterized as a “contrapuntal” that began “You were born in wildfire season…” 

Jay Rogoff, the Poet Laureate of Saratoga Springs, read a political satire, “The Ballroom 2030” in which the thrift shop there is run by immigrants. A frequent reader here, Elaine Kenyon, said she is on a poem-a-day project based upon the word-of-the-day, read “An After Dark Return” responding to the word “eidolon,” then another, "Requiem as I Sleep.” Rodney Parrott has been responding with poetry to the Presidencies of Donald J. Trump for a long time now & read a piece in which the poet imagines himself running for President.

Emma Norris managed to squeeze in 3 short poems (& got away with it), “Knowing” about leaving a relationship, then a ghost poem “White Napkin,” & another relationship poem, “Pink.” Randee Renzi, who is part of the active poetry group Lucid Voices, read a political piece on the Epstein files, “Redactions,” then a prosy untitled piece on narcissists. Ian McCrae read a quirky poems with a long title, “Gas Station in Upstate New York Where I Went to Do My Taxes,” then one about a cigarette titled more simply “Poem Number 2.”  S.L. Maurice brought the evening to a close with 2 pieces from his book Vibrant Sounds, Colors in Motion (Deadman’s Press Ink, 2025), recited from memory, “Ariadne” & “What You See.”

This long-running (20+ years) series is now on the 4th Tuesday of the month, still at the historical Caffè Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY - featured poet at 7:00PM, followed by an open mic, $5.00, students free.

[Note: I apologize if I mis-spelled your name, I had no access to the sign-up sheet & relied on what I heard/interpreted for my notes. If you send me a correction via email I will revise the post. Likewise if I mis-heard the title of your poem, or got anything else wrong, please email me your correction.]