Poetry Open Mic at Paper Moon, September 10

Paper Moon epitomizes the axiom that if you are going to have a poetry reading have it in a small venue (i.e., so that it will look crowded). Indeed, there were only 8 chairs jammed into the tiny space surrounded, floor to ceiling & spilling over unto the floor, by books — a bibliophiles fatal overdose.

It was an open mic only, no feature, 5 of us, including the MC/host, on the list. First up was the stunningly made-up Celeste Sloane who read 2 pieces involving relationships with her family, the 1st an angry rant, perhaps titled “It’s Another One,” another, less angry “I Cannot Tell When My Grandmother Says She Loves Me.”

The date being what it was, I read 2 pieces connected to the 25th anniversary of the attach on the World Trade Center in NYC on September 11, 2001. The 1st was the opening section, “Matins & Lauds,” of a poem-long chapbook published in 1991, Meditations of a Survivor (A.P.D.), a science-fiction poem about a survivor of a nuclear war that has destroyed New York who has found shelter in the World Trade Center; my 2nd poem was a brief tale of my own experience on 9/11/01, “Leaving New York.”

The reader Gareth shared a piece from her notebook  provocatively titled “A Sex Tape for the Elderly,” but didn’t have any copies of the tape to share — I’m still wondering.

The next reader was introduced as “the Cool” Eric, described his 1st piece as “has a title but that is only a place-holder” about how he doesn’t write “poems,” the piece a bit of automatic writing narrative, then a piece with a title, “Spillage,” on writing & schedules.

The host, Mena, read a piece about an incident in middle school & a friend, her love a poem & a flower.

This open mic series continues on the 2nd & 4th Thursday of each month at 7PM, but there are other events scheduled there throughout the months at Paper Moon, 6 Brunswick Rd., Troy, NY — go there & get lost in the stacks.