Salon Salvage, May 30

Matthew Klane is one of the co-hosts, along with Amie Zimmerman & Hajar Hussaini  who make this reading series happen every month; he announced that this was the 44th event in 46 months — an impressive run. Matthew & Amie shared the introduction for this night’s reading.

There were 4 readers this night; the first was Kate Colby who read from her new book, Paradoxx (Essay Press, 2025) a collection of essays & memoir poems, in 100 sections, all in the 1st person, notes during the pandemic. She teaches at Brown & said this was her 1st time in Troy, NY. She began with a piece about her father & a cold wood stove, another piece was a memoir of high school on “Slow Dancing to Heaven,” another was a dream of sex (or, was it really happening). She ended with a new poem, “White Noise White Smell” either the title or the 1st line. 

Darcie Dennigan read new work from the manuscript of “Commander,” again all in the 1st person, what could be a novel, funny, sexual, playing with gender roles, the Commander a character, & references to Russian writers. One section was a Marxist take on pregnancy, read with a friend joining her to read the other voice.

Sylvia Jones also said this was her 1st time in Troy (she lives in Baltimore, MD), she read from the actual page proofs of of her new collection of poems Dope Calisthenics, due out in October from Relegation Books. Since the pieces are all short, she was able to read a bunch of them, often based on statements from others, famous or otherwise, random thoughts, long titles to very short poems, often the title giving some context to what seemed like notebook jottings. But easily relatable topics & situations, including politics & government.

The final performer was Tia Brown with a full-fledged multi-media act including projected photos, some even from TV news casts, an amped ukulele on loop, & a guitar with split-screen videos. Some of the photos, documenting events with images from a plane, or a highway, became nearly abstract images. One series included TV interviews & videos of the streets of Buffalo during a snowstorm.

Catch this series on the last Saturday of the month at Upstairs Arts Collective, 403 Fulton St., Troy, NY at 7:00PM, donations (& purchases of the authors' books) gratefully accepted. Authors & artists from hither & yon. 

Poets in the Museum, April 19

This was another in the month-long series of poetry related events in Saratoga Springs during the month of April, aka National Poetry Month organized by the new Poet Laureate of Saratoga Springs, Jay Rogoff. Thirteen published poets were invited to review an exhibit of visual art in the Tang Museum at Skidmore College & respond with new, original poems. The reading was held in the gallery of the Tang with the audience moving from piece to piece to hear the poets read their work. There were about 85 audience members moving throughout the readings, some of us toting the museum-provided wooden stools, other standing. It reminded me of the piano suite “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Modest Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881), that was famously scored for orchestra by Maurice Ravel, among others.

Melora Wolff responded to the work “Untitled (Danielle)” by Angela Strassheim with a poem titled “Curious Hand Shadow.” Franklin Williams artwork, in paint, twine, yarn, fabric, canvas, “A Beautiful Dark Moment,” inspired Mary Kathryn Jablonski’s poem by the same title. Jay Rogoff, who served as MC, read his poem “Ascent” a reaction/commentary on the 12-foot tall steel sculpture in the middle of the room, Dorothy Dehner’s “Fist.”

Krista Rivera said that her piece was “Untitled” just like the unrecorded Tibetan artist who made the painting “A Black Ground Thangka of Gurgi Gönpo, the Lord of the Tent.” Her poem, like the painting evoked images & concepts of the Tibetan Buddhists. Catherine Clarke responded with a poem titled “Perhaps” to Sarah Charlesworth’s painting “Totem,” which to my eye looked like Constantin Brancusi’s “Sleeping Muse.” Marilyn McCabe responded to Jeff Sonhouse’s painting “Why We Wear White” with an untitled poem. 

E.V. Day’s stark black & white painting (“Untitled”) reminded Peg Boyers so much of Gustave Courbet’s notorious painting “L’Origine du monde” that she not only wrote a poem in response, “The Origin of the World Part 2,” but brought a reproduction of Courbet’s painting to accompany her reading of the poem.

When former Saratoga Springs Poet Laureate, Joe Bruchac, does a reading I usually learn something new about native American culture or history. The art work that Joe responded to was “Composition (Faces and Animals)” by Inuit artist Annie Taipanak (which Joe corrected text of her name from the catalog to be “Taipana”), he played some recorded Inuit music, gave a mini-lecture on the nature of Inuit art, & read his poem “Faces & Animals.” Nicola Allain responded to William Villalongo’s “Specimen,” which was right next to the piece Joe wrote about, with her poem “Butterflies.”

Barbara Takenaga’s piece “Wheel (Zozma)” had the honor of 2 poets responding with poems. Lucyna Prostko reflected the artist’s title with her poem “Wheel (2) by Barbara Takenaga;" Susan Jefts’ response was titled “A Clear & Uncertain Space.” Carol Hepper’s sculpture, “Tangle,” was composed of coiled branches of willow, to which Mary Sanders Shartle responded with her poem “Willow: a Memoir.”

The final piece was a dramatic installation, “So Soon,” by Whitfield Lovell, to which David Graham responded with a poem titled “Pages from a Family Bible.” 

It was a moving, fascinating, sometimes perplexing confrontation of poems to their inspiration, & not a dull moment. Ekphrastic poetry & visual art at its best in the perfect environment. Jay Rogoff said that their would be more such confrontations in the future & I for one am very much looking forward to it.

Poetic License Reading, November 7

Mabel Lucia Smith

This was the 2nd of 2 readings by poets whose work inspired a visual artist(s) to create a piece on display along with the poem. The first reading was held in September when the exhibit was at the Fish Market Gallery in Troy; this November reading was held at the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany while the exhibit was on display there. Other poets who did not have a poem in the exhibit also read their poems. A gathering of poets among the painters, as someone once wrote — or perhaps painters among the poets.

I served as MC/host of the reading & was ably introduced by artist Mabel Lucia Smith, who has a piece of visual art in the show, as “the man, the myth, the mustache.”

Pam Jacobson

The poets with poems in the show who read were Sylvia Barnard (“Stonehenge”), Pam Jacobson (“Tree Snag”), David Gonsalves (“page 22”), Mimi Moriarty (“Empty,” & also read “To My Father”), Jil Hanifan (“Mad Lark Laundry,” also read “Last Bright Day Before the Dark: Ode to November”), Rhonda Rosenheck (“All the Wonders,” also read “Earth’s Watch”), & Will Nixon (“Dancing Tulips,” also “Inquiring Minds”).

Will Nixon

The poets who read but did not have a poem in the show were Carlton Wells (a word-play sonnet, & “Wino in the Garden”), Marea Gordett (“Awaiting the Inauguration of a President”), & Frank Robinson (“Chicken,” & one beginning “Woke up this morning …”).

Visit the Poetic License website to find all the poems & the artwork the poems inspired.

Poetic License - Reading & Open Mic, September 22

This is the forth year of the collaboration between the Hudson Valley Writers Guild & the Upstate Artists Guild, to create an exhibit of visual art inspired by poetry specifically submitted for the event, Poetic License. 

The first exhibition of the work was at The Fish Market Gallery in Troy, NY, with a reception combined with a reading of poems by the poets whose work inspired visual artist, as well as others reading in an open mic.

The poets who read who have poems in the exhibit were:

Mimi Moriarty (“Empty”); Tim Maloney (“The Claw Machine”); Pam Jacobson (“Tree Snag”); David Gonsalves (“Page 22”); Andy Fogle (“The House Up the Hill”); Jil Hanifan (“The Mad Lark”); and John Savoie (“Nitzotzok”) read by Dan Wilcox.

Those not in the show who read in the open mic were Susan Morse, Brad Quan Copeland (from a chapbook), Sxr Gripp, S.L. Maurice (from his poetry collection Vibrant Sounds, Colors in Motion), Thom Francis, & Poetic Visionz (who performed from memory & with audience participation).

There were also those magic moments where artist & poet met in person, not just in the world of imagination.

You can see a gallery of photos of all the readers on the website of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, as well as the art in the show on the website for Poetic License.

The exhibit has moved to the Honest Weight Food Co-op, 100 Watervliet Ave., Albany, NY & will be on display until November 16, 2025.

Salon Salvage, March 28

This was my first visit to the new home of this monthly reading at the Upstairs Arts Collective, at 403 Fulton St., Troy, NY. The 3rd floor (there is a classic clattering elevator) space is the studio of host & coordinator of Salon Salvage Matthew Klane (with Hajar Hussaini & Amie Zimmerman) & this night there were about 25 in the audience, fellow poets & artists scattered about the split space.

Matthew began the night with a tribute to the recently gone poet/translator/professor Pierre Joris. Matthew recalled how he first met Pierre at SUNY Buffalo before Pierre went on to settle in Albany, then read from the 2007 anthology Oh One Arrow (film forum press) 2 selections by Pierre “#7 exhalation (tarab)” & “#11 comradeship (rifq)” from Pierre’s series Meditations on the 40 Stations of Mansour Al-Hallaj (also published as a chapbook by Anchorite Press, 2007).

Hajar Hussaini introduced the first reader, Maggie Greaves, who teaches at Skidmore College, & whom I’d see read last Fall at the monthly reading & open mic series at the Saratoga Springs Senior Center. A couple of poems were repeated from that reading, including the hilarious “Things My Daughter Said During the Wildfires.” She included poems on Outer Space (e.g., “Outer Space is the Suburbs”), her daughter, love (e.g., “My Husband Washes the Dishes While Humming”), & she ended with “Autobiography” that began with a quote from Gertrude Stein. Her poems are built on images of a mix of the everyday & the exotic, simply told.

Mayada Ibrahim read from an anthology that she is compiling of translations from the Arabic of contemporary Sudanese poets, all, or mostly women. While she did mention their names it was difficult for me to be able take down that information, but the poems were all compelling pieces, including a series of prose poems on death & mourning, one in which a woman in labor calls out, “a god!, a god” on the birth of her child. I’d be very interested in reading the anthology when it comes out so I hope she is able to keep at it.

Judith Braun is well known in this area as a visual artist; she was born in Albany & has returned to Upstate New York after years in NYC. Tonight that work was shared along with written autobiographical pieces from years past. She read 3 pieces against the backdrop of large projections of her visual work, mostly drawings, that were “unrehearsed,” i.e., not coordinated with the writing. The first piece, “The Life of an Artist,” was a humorous, perhaps ironic, take; “He Liked My Work” was a chatty autobiographical piece, with occasional rhyme, on being arty; while “A Wink and a Nod” was about a romance from some years ago.  Over the years I have seen Judith Braun’s work in a number of local venues & this was a pleasant, informal retrospective of her work & life.

This “Multi-modal poetry & performance series” continues on the last Saturday of each month at Upstairs Arts Collective, 403 Fulton St., Troy, NY at 7pm, donations encouraged. Find them on Instagram. 

 

Poetic License Reading & Open Mic, October 14

This reading/open mic was held in the Community Room of the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany, NY in conjunction with the exhibit of visual art & the poems that inspired it, Poetic License, a joint project of the Upstate Artists Guild & the Hudson Valley Writers Guild. I served as MC/host & had served as coordinator for the poetry part of the project.

Rachel Baum runs a monthly open mic at the Saratoga Springs Senior Center. She read her poem about her father (a musician) that is in the exhibit “White Dinner Jackets, Black Bow Ties” which inspired a photograph by Timothy Reidy; she also read a companion piece “My Father’s Ghost is Mustard Stained.”

Jackie Craven’s poem, “As the last egg in the carton, I should tell you about the others,” which is in the exhibit & inspired a mixed media piece by Lucia Mabel Smith, is from her fascinating collection of poems, Whish (Press 53, 2024); she also read a poem titled “Missing from the Box” (about crayons) from her earlier collection, Secret Formulas & Techniques of the Masters (Brick Road Poetry Press, 2018).

Don Maurer has had a poem in a previous Poetic License; tonight he read this year’s entry, “Ancient Wisdom” (about a bristle cone pine) that inspired 2 artists to submit work, a piece in silk & dyes by Tina Johnston & a mixed media & pencil by Toni Hewitt; then he read a humorous piece “Long Johns on the Line” written on a bet to use the “skivvies” in a poem.

Alexander Perez’s poem in the exhibit is entitled “A beyond empire amidst empire” inspired an acrylic painting on canvas by Sven Willets; he also read 2 other poems, the love poem “Awake to the Night…” & the end of season “Kiss Me Summer Some Goodbye.”

Brian Liston has had his poems included in each of the previous Poetic License exhibits, this year his poem “Paddle” inspired Ginger LaFreniere to paint a watercolor on the same theme; he also read 2 other poems, “Lash” (a critic) & “Rebound” (about turning down the light.

Two other poems who did not have have work in the show turned up to read in the open mic. Joan Goodman, who has read at other open mics in town, read 2 pieces relating to the war in Palestine, “We Are Not Knowers” & “Casualties.” The last poet, Shawda, was a stranger to me & said she hadn’t read at an open mic previously; she read 2 poems about relationships, “My Prayer” (asking for “a man of God”) & an untitled piece about a former boyfriend, wondering what is in his mind. 

We hope to continue this project again next year, but until then you can images of the visual art at https://www.poeticlicensealbany.com/ & stay tuned to the Call for Entries on the website of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild.

VSG First Thursday’s Open Mic Night, October 3

VSG (Vincinanza Studios & Gallery) is a fairly new gallery located in Southbury, CT. The owner, Faith Vincinanza, invited 3 Guys from Albany (Charlie Rossiter & Dan Wilcox) to perform for the open mic night held on the 1st Thursday of the month. To my recollection we met Faith at the Connecticut Poetry Festival in 2001, although perhaps it was at the National Slam Championship in Middletown, CT in 1997. In other words, she has been involved in the Connecticut poetry scene for a long time, & now involved in a labor of love with the VSG. She is the inaugural Poet Laureate for Southbury, CT.

Charlie & I drove down from Bennington, VT, picked up Tom Nicotera in Bloomfield, CT then drove another hour or so to Southbury to perform. The night’s MC/host was Kate who started with some open mic poets, Faith Vincinanza herself led off, first with a poem titled “Unsung” from her book Arturo (Hanover Press, 2022), then from Shall We Dance? (Hanover Press, 2024) “In case of emergency, grab me.”

Victor Walton read a humorous piece, in rhyme, titled “There Goes the Neighborhood, Car.” Bill Morehead read a cluster of poems, the quasi-Biblical “The Parable of the Few,” “Isolation of Fielding” (baseball), a tale of love among spies in Russia, & “The List” about the things he has missed in life.

Then it was the time for us featured poets, & I went first to talk a bit about the history of the 3 Guys from Albany & to read a collaborative poem that was written with Charlie Rossiter that had been commissioned by the NYS Writers Institute for the 20th anniversary celebration of the Opalka Gallery at Sage College in Albany, NY. Then on to a poem performed across the country “I Thought I Saw Elvis…” The other poems were more recent pieces, such as “Tashlich” for Rosh Hashana, & a pastiche on the poems of William Carlos Williams.

Charlie Rossiter began with performance piece “On Reading Snake Back Solo…”, then a piece from his days in Chicago “Night Life,” “The Music of the Universe,” & one written for a Day of the Dead event, about dead poets “At the Poetry Party.” He ended with a newer piece, an hysterically funny ode to a church supply catalog.

After a break to sell books, etc., the open mic continued with Irene Sherlock, who introduced herself as a psychotherapist, & read a fascinating poem titled “Rorschach” about the reactions of her clients to the art in her office. Clare Warner read “What We Lost” about a conversation with her sister about their family.  Sherry Bedingfield read a poem on a related theme, “Without Carlene,” about a deceased cousin; then a speculative vision titled “Under a Blue August Moon.” Sharon Smith followed with a piece in rhyme — good, not forced — “My Ghosts,” & then a creation myth, “to repair the broken world,” “Tikkun Olam.” 

Tom Nicotera began with a humorous piece in rhyme “Why I Keep My Mullein,” then a poem from a prompt, “Trading Places with Donald Trump.” Pamela Cleary’s poem “Collateral Damage” was about the effects of human existence on Mother Earth; her poem “Urban Lonely” contrasted the trendy “tiny houses” with a homeless person living in a box; she was more hopeful in the poem titled “It’s Catching On” about the spread of communal kindness.

Chris Gaffney said that he wrote poems to his children before they were born & read an example, a mix of rhymes & song lyrics, titled “Family Formed.” Our MC Kate read a poem about “Time Lapse” through the figure of a porch glider.

To bring the evening to a close, Charlie, Dan & Tom performed a multi-voice piece that often concluded performances of 3 Guys from Albany, about a grand boulevard in Albany, NY “O Central Ave.” written by Tom Nattell, Charlie Rossiter & Dan Wilcox.

Vicinanza Studios & Gallery is located at 493 Heritage Road, Suite 4C, Southbury, CT. Visit the website  for a calendar of events, including the monthly open mic, & other information about this wonderfully eclectic gallery. 

Poetic License Reading/Open Mic, December 5

Thomasa Nielsen - "Slipping on a Note"

The Poetic License — Albany exhibit has moved from its month-long exhibition at The Fish Market in Troy to the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany & this reading was held to bless the new location by some of the poets whose poems are exhibited with the visual art they inspired. As I do at the Third Thursday Poetry Night, I invoked the Muse, tonight Noah Kucij, with 2 poems in the exhibit; I read “Your Photos A Year Ago This Week” which inspired Thom Francis’ photo “Spinning Wheel.” Noah died suddenly in April before he knew he would be part of Poetic License - Albany.

Tom Bonville joined as an open mic poet. While he did not have a poem in the show, he does regularly attend open mics in the area. The pieces he read were titled “Going, Going, Gone,” “Faith,” & “I Want to Be.”

Elaine Kenyon had submitted to the 2022 Poetic License event, but this year her poem “The Peripatetic” inspired art from Tess Lecuyer titled “the peripatetic eye.” This night Elaine read that poem as well as “The Misophoniac,” & an ekphrastic poem “Motherhood Blood-Letting.”

Brian Liston has also participated both years in Poetic License - Albany; this year it was his word-list poem “Struggle” that inspired Sven Willets to create his painting “Conquering Worm;” Brian also read a poem dedicated to Philip X. Levine of the Woodstock Poetry Society “The Role We Play” a tribute to those who have come before us, & one titled  “Internalization.”

I was one of the judges of the poetry submitted & so do not have any of my poems in the exhibit; instead I read my poem “Writing Crows” that had been in the Arts Society of Kingston Poetic License in 2021 & inspired the painter S.L. Rika to create “The Crow Flies.” I also read the short poem “My Matisse” inspired by a painting by Thomasa Nielsen from an exhibit at the UAG Gallery on Lark St. many years ago.

Don Maurer read his poem in 3 parts, “Unnatural Acts,” that inspired the painting by Phil Palmieri titled “Lyme & Corona;” then read a coupe other pieces, “Bruised Fruit,” & the song lyric, “How a Robin Learns the Facts of Life.”

Kathleen Anne Smith read “To Create a Summer it Takes” (from her book Let the Stones Grow Soft, The Troy Book Makers, 2023) that inspired the painting “Beach Cottage Summer” by Maureen Kelly; she also read “Why I Write About My Mother” which is also in her book.

Tom Corrado repeated his feat from last year’s Poetic License - Albany & has 2 poems in this year’s show, “Woman XXXIX,” that inspired a painting by Ann Womack titled “Let’s Ride,” & “Woman XVII,” that inspired Thomasa Nielsen’s “Slipping on a Note.” Tom quoted the American abstract painter, Agnes Martin (1912 - 2004), to the effect that she was happy to have her art leave her studio. Tom also read the poems “Woman XXXVII” & “Woman XL,” all the poems from his chapbook 50 Woman (swimming in happenstance press, 2023) copies of which he gave out to the audience.

You can check out the poems & visual art in Poetic License - Albany at the website. 

If you are reading this Blog soon after it was posted, & it is still 2023, you can find the poems & their accompanying art work in the Gallery at Honest Weight Food Co-op, 100 Watervliet Ave., Albany, NY. Visit the Hudson Valley Writers Guild website for listings of local & regional literary events, calls for entries (including future Poetic License calls), & much more.

Visual Poetry: Poetry in Performance, November 28

This was an event planned in conjunction with an exhibit at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy titled Visual Poetry: New Vistas. The exhibit is up from November 13 to December 20, curated by Willie Marlowe, Joseph Mastroianni, & Bella Burnett, with work by Drea LaRose, Kelsey Renko, Kim Tateo, Laura Frare, Marisa Cavanaugh, Mary Kathryn Jablonski, Willie Marlowe & Yeachin Tsai.

The title of this night's event was a bit of a misnomer. While the poetry was exemplary & varied in style & presentation, & some of the poets used videos as part of their readings, it lacked the kind of presentations usually associated with “performance poetry” — dramatic, even histrionic presentations, music, costumes, etc. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining, albeit long, evening of poetry & videos.

The readers were all local/regional poets. The announced headliner, the Philadelphia-based “experimental poet,” CA Conrad had transportation problems & didn’t make it to Troy.

The host was Troy poet Nancy Klepsch who debuted a short video of her poem “god must be a boogie man,” the title poem of her 2017 poetry chapbook.

The first piece was the 30-minute video/poem chapbook, Compass, by poet Mary Kathryn Jablonski & filmmaker Laura Frare, a compilation of 9 separate pieces, weaving together video images, music & the Jablonski’s poems. The title piece, Compass, won an award in the Experiment Short Film category at this year’s Writers Institute Film Festival.

Jill Crammond is a long-time participant in the local poetry reading/open mic scene; she said that she started writing her poems as a “single-Mom,” but now that her children are grown up she doesn’t know what she is. She began with a seasonal poem from the 2022 Poetic License - Albany exhibit of poems & ekphrastic art, “October Sonnet,” then on to a cluster of poems from her recently published chapbook, Handbook for Unwell Mothers (Finishing Line Press, 2023), including a couple of my favorites, “On Forbidding Certain Words at the Dinner Table,” & “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Home” with its nod to Wallace Stevens. Then to a cluster of poems about the death of her father, ending with one titled “On Learning There is No Word Like ‘Widow’ for the Daughter of a Dead Man.”

I noted as the readings began that there was no mic stand, that the readers had to hold the microphone while awkwardly turning the pages of their books or manuscript, or other wise scrolling on their lap-top or phone. Perhaps there is a high-roller out there who would like to purchase a mic stand for any such future events at the Arts Center.

Shira Dentz began her reading with her own version of a video poem, then read from her laptop what she called "newer poems" about the environment. Most of the poems were quite short  descriptive ponderings, such as a piece about trees & leaves titled “Silk Confetti,” another titled “Sparks,” & one titled “Why Part 2” a colorful description of -- what? More of what I expected from her opening descriptions was “Small Things” about micro-plastics. She also read from a collection titled Sisyphusina (PANK, 2020), the title a female version of the Greek figure Sisyphus; the book is described on the publisher’s page as “a cross-genre collection of prose, poetry, visual art, and improvisatory music, centered on female aging” which did not come across in the reading. She ended with a longer piece built on the common expressions she had been hearing "At the End of the Day.”

Philip Good dedicated his reading to the memory of his partner, Bernadette Mayer (1945 - 2022), & read a couple pieces he had done in collaboration with Bernadette, “Don’t forget organic salt…” & “Carnavale” (which I think may have been in the 2022 New Directions book by Bernadette Milkweed Smithereens). Then on to a series of seasonal poems, starting in March, discursive, descriptive pieces, sometimes with cultural/social commentary (such as one about Maine, “Looks Just Like a Postcard”), others like automatic writing commenting on the writing itself. Then there was the funny & all-to-true “Things to Do in East Nassau,” which if you have ever been there you can guess.

Matthew Klane has run a variety of reading series in the Capital District over the years, most recently Salon Salvage in Troy in which he brings in young, experimental writers from near & far. Tonight he read from HIST (Calamari) described as “a graphic novel,” or a “text-image blockbuster.” He read 5 of the 10 short chapters, with images projected on the screen, being the closest to the advertised “poetry in performance.” The images, which were done by the “interdisciplinary poet” James Belflower, were collaged, looking quite 19th century, of shipwrecks, monsters, murders, hauntings signifying — what? The text was equally collaged in fractured phrases, while Matthew’s deep, sonorous reading voice made it all sound so serious.

Sarah Wyman was the only reader I had not heard or seen previously & her work was a pleasant surprise. She read largely  from her 2021 book from Codhill Press Fried Goldfinch; many were ekphrastic poems based on such visual artists as Arshile Gorky & James McNeill Whistler. She also read a clutch of what she described as “familial poems,” such as one on tobacco “American Spirit,” & the sestina “Wild Asparagus.” I always like to be surprised by good poets that I hadn’t yet heard of — more books to buy.

The final poet of the night, Ellen White Rook, is one I had definitely heard previously, & indeed she was a featured poet earlier this year at the monthly event I run, the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center in Albany, & was recently the featured poet at the Caffè Lena Poetry Night in Saratoga Springs. She included a quartet of poems from her attractively produced book Suspended (Cathexis Northwest Press, 2023) sprinkled throughout her set list. But also read other poems from a new manuscript, such as 2 companion pieces about seeing a demon in the room as a young girl & as an older woman, & the poem tilted “Drusen” on the conflation of language & a vision problem that I heard as a metaphor for poetry.

While not quite a night of “poetry in performance,” certainly an evening of quite excellent work by local writers, making one question why one would need some celebrity poet from out-of-town to make this an “event” anyways. 

Support your local poets at the venues & your local artists at the galleries near you.