Poetry in Pursuit of Liberty, September 16

At Historic Cherry Hill, in Albany NY, this was a joint program with the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, we were welcomed by Deborah Emmons-Andarawis, the Director, & Hannah Tompkins, Education Assistant, to the outdoor gathering on a pleasant late-Summer evening. 

The MC was local poet & performer Carol Durant, the Marketing & Communications Engagement Associate here at Cherry Hill. The readers & what they read stem from a writing group that gathers regularly here at Cherry Hill & the theme was “Poetry in Pursuit of Liberty.”

The first reader was Doug Campbell whose work I’ve become familiar with from his appearances at the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center in Albany. What he read here exemplified the theme of the reading, with a piece titled “For the American Revolution…” an historical poem in rhyme, or perhaps a series of short pieces read from a handful of index cards — biographical vignettes of the people who lived & worked here on this very site, many of whom were enslaved people.

Tasmia was introduced as the president of the Albany High School poetry club. She read a piece for the women of Afghanistan who don’t have the freedoms we do, are kept behind locked doors & covered in blue veils, the piece an exploration of what freedom is/could be.

Jeffrey Torres read a biographical piece in rhyme about Henry Knox & his travels from Boston to New York.

Lanie Larson’s pieces also dealt with the theme of the pursuit of Liberty head-on, one titled “Exhausted,” the other addressed to everyone here on the importance of the work of artists & journalists to maintain the pursuit of Liberty, titled “We Are the Misfits.”

Amelia Paul read a piece in rhyme, perhaps titled “For Liberty,” on the tradition of poetry here at Cherry Hill.

Adonis Richards brought the evening to a close with a couple of very powerful pieces, “Black Women Don’t Hang Themselves from Trees" (with the line, “the fruit is not strange,” alluding to a song made famous by Billie Holiday), & “We Are the Catalysts for Catalytic Change,” an energetic rant worthy of a Poet Laureate, as indeed Adonis is, of the City of Schenectady.

For more information about Historic Cherry Hill & other programs & tours that are available there visit their website  — & sign up for their newsletter.

Open Mic Night at TheEleven at Lark Hall, September 3

This is a brand-new monthly open mic at TheEleven at Lark Hall for musicians & other performers, including comedians & poets, from a group called Troupe Productions with the host Shannon Tehya. In many ways a throw-back to the earlier days (pre-1988) in Albany when there were many music open mics but no open mics for poets, although the lowly poets were tolerated at the music open mics. The description online for this event states, “Participants are encouraged to prepare two songs to share, with the possibility of a third depending on the volume of attendance,” had no mention of other genres. However, there were plenty of those other performers packing the bar this night. 

Shannon Tehya started the night off with her guitar singing Dolly Parson’s “Coat of Many Colors” as a tribute the very recently gone star. She was followed by another guitar strummer who just did one song that I couldn’t hear through the conversation going around me at the bar. Same thing for poet Mizzy, a rhyming piece at the ocean. She was followed by 3 different guys doing “comedy” — or as the first one, Ryan Anderson, said, “jokes or things that sound funny to me.” The other 2 following were “Ted, an Impressionist,” & Mel Bradshaw who also did “jokes or things that sound funny to me” but not so to the audience. In some ways I was grateful for the conversations around me, but I decided to move to a table away from the bar closer to the where the performers were since there were poets I wanted to hear coming up. The 3 alleged comedians left in a group soon after. Stefan Ivanov was a performer that others in the room seemed to know & part of his performance was tuning his guitar.  

John Teevan III is a writer I’ve seen a number of times at open mic venues, more for his historical prose fiction, but tonight he did a couple pieces in rhyme, one about World War II. He was followed by 2 singers with guitars, first Will B. with a song either by Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie & a long Dave Matthews song. Then Eric-Jon with his own rhythmic songs with clever lyrics. Then, for a break, a singer with a banjo, Carissa O., who said has just learned to play it, she did up-beat songs. Anna Boughtwood is a local poet who has been making the rounds of the open mics & reading venues for a few years now & has been instrumental in reviving the zine scene; she read her poem “Hell is House Slippers.”

I’ve also seen Lo Contompasis at poetry events in the past, but tonight sang Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love,” her voice strong & beautiful. Brendan McDonough was busy talking with his friends & didn’t realize he was up, then sang & played the guitar for a bunch of rhythmic songs that got his friends dancing. I read a couple of my poems printed on 3x5 cards, “Cafe Society” which mentions the Dunkin’ Donuts down Lark St., & an older love poem, “Decoupage Me.”

Hunter Frost was working the sound here tonight & he & Shannon both with their guitars got some of the audience dancing again with their songs. Sean Lippin was another guitar player doing his own songs, & actually arrived with a obligatory back-pack guitar case. To break things up Nick S. banged out rhythms sitting on his beat box. Then Dark Cartoon bowed a cello & sang original songs about cartoon characters (thus his “name”). 

Kennedy brought us back to poetry with a piece titled “Having a Sin with You” a takeoff from a poem by Frank O’Hara, then a longer, self-reflective “Strawberry Moon.” Areli, apparently part of the Troupe Productions group, played the keyboards that had been sitting there quietly all night. Then a poet with a very poetic name, Phoenix River Wylye, did a couple of philosophical/spiritual poems.

Shannon Tehya ended the night where it had begun with song, this time with a group of other performers, accompanied by guitar, keyboard & beatbox. This eclectic mix of performances — spoken word, stand-up comics, & music with a variety of instruments — will continue on the 1st Thursday of each month at 6PM, at The Eleven at Lark Hall, on the corner of Lark St. & Hudson Ave., hosted by Troupe Productions — drinks at the bar. 

You Me & Poetry, August 22

This show was held at the Fuze Box, 12 Central Ave., Albany, NY one of an ongoing series run by Schenectady Poet Laureate, Sincerely Donnie (Adonis Richards) & Lucid Voices. The theme of the night was “o.p.p.” (i.e., other people’s poetry), although not required. Many did read o.p.p. as well as their own. However, many readers did not identify the author of the  they were reading. Not matter, the night was over-flowing with poetry.

Adonis started us off with a poem by a poet whose name I didn’t catch & by the end of the night I forgot to ask him, but it was titled “Strength” with a memorable line, “I am tired of trading my poems for your applause.”

The MC of the night was the lovely poet who goes by the handle, “I Am Danea,” who also performed later in the evening. The first poet introduced was performer Kareem Ture, with the handle “Your Favorite Underrated Poet,” who performed o.p.p. from memory (author?), then another piece which I think was his own. He was followed by Platt (?) with “a dreaded audience participation piece” (as we used to say in the old days) titled “It’s Not that Simple.” JTDPoet was familiar to me from the open mic scene, & has read at Poets in the Park; he did one of his characteristic positive self-actualization pieces. John R. Tevan III, better known for his prose fiction, read a political rant in rhyme, “The Reverse Opium Wars…” 

Some other poets, not known to me, were not clearly identified, such as Camillia (?) who read a piece titled “Puzzle Pieces,” perhaps o.p.p. Miss Allie read her own piece but it was untitled. Another read, according to my notes, “who would have thought? a love poem?” The “signup list” was apparently kept via text messages between the organizers & the MC so there was nothing I could get my hands on to verify names.

For my turn, I read “Black Einstein” by Moses Kash (America’s Moses Kash, III, Ph.D.) (1945 - 2017) dated 1/3/02, what he subtitled “a prose poem,” a personal portrait & praise piece about himself -- glad to do it for you my friend.

There was a break for some music spun by DJ Trifecta, then a 2nd half that included many of the principal organizers, starting off with Dahoud (?), introduced as “the Stage Manager,” who performed his own piece about a stickup on Coney Island, then some o.p.p. love poems, but sadly, he said the names of the authors too fast for me to catch (& said nothing about them).

There was an enthusiastic introduction for Eros (Logan, who had been at Poetry Jam last night), who did an o.p.p., apparently untitled, a love poem on the theme that a picture is worth a 1000 words.

As he did last night at the Poetry Jam at AMBACC, Jav Rux (aka, Mojavi) paid tribute to other community poets in the house (including me), then did o.p.p., a love poem beginning “I want more…” Our MC, I Am Danea, performed a steamy, graphic, hyper-erotic piece — phew! Aaron (?) performed a couple of o.p.p. by his friends Kareem, & Adonis in the house. 

Miss Elizabeth also did o.p.p., a love poem by I Am Danea, & a couple of her own pieces. The next poet was perhaps named Nioko (?), read from her phone a couple of short, self-reflective pieces. DJ Trifecta said that she was a spoken-word artist before she became a DJ, read a powerful rant titled “Our Bodies Are Political.”

Poet Tai (or Kai?) read rather than performed the lyrics from his own rap songs. Dee Journey, who had also performed last night at Poetry Jam, did a piece from memory that I think was titled “Unapologetically Luminous” in praise of women. Eros was back to cap off the night, having removed his fancy shirt, to a tee underneath, did a piece on Daydreams (erotic ones, of course), & promoted his line of poetic cookbooks.

You Me & Poetry pops up frequently, though apparently not on a regular schedule, & often at the Fuze Box on Central Ave., so check social media regularly for notices. Worth hanging out.

[As always, if I get something wrong — a poet’s name, a title of a poem, or anything else that needs to be corrected — send me an email (it’s in the Blog) & I will humbly correct it.]

Poetry Jam, August 21

This monthly open mic is held at The Alice Moore Black Arts & Cultural Center, 135 South Pearl St., Albany, NY. This night there was a trio of hosts, Mark, Stephanie Robinson, & “Mr. Harris” serving as hosts/MCs, with DJ Landlord. In between the poets there were a series of trivia questions for the audience about notable black figures in history, politics, & entertainment; the entertainment questions were generally beyond me, but I did get a couple of politics & history questions correct.

Those who read/performed were a mix of poets I’ve heard previously, sometime going back to the earlier days of the Albany poetry scene & new faces & voices to add to the history. The first 2 up were poets with whom I am familiar. First Carol Durant with a piece in rhyme about the power of “Our Ancestors.” She was followed a poet who had been featured at the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center in April, Valerie Temple, aka Bertha Blunt who read her funny, rhyming piece with a lesson on diet, “Sugar Poem,” then a poem she said she has been working on since she was in 8th grade, “Cultivating Love’s Garden.”

After a break for trivia, Ebony Queen gave a lively, erotic performance of 3 pieces, all in rhyme, first the serious “The Willy Lynch Syndrome,” then a sexy description of a “Nubian queen” & a white man, “The Afro-Centric Bond,” & the intensely erotic 1st person “Mistress of Masturbation.” I followed, sweating, & tried to be as energetic with my “hot pants” poem, “Southwest Flight 2095” referencing a song by James Brown.

Dr. Andrea Miranda-Pestana, the Deputy Director of the Center of Law & Justice, announced next month’s Poetry Jam for September 18, with the theme Boriken Night: Celebrating Amefricanity - stories of displacement, pain, joy and collective liberation. Ann Garcia was here to read for her first time, 2 pieces: “Full Disclosure” & a piece that riffed on the Psalm “He Maketh Me…” Stephanie Robinson sang a praise song to Black Men. Samia read 2 untitled pieces, one about warm-hearted soft hands, then a more serious love poem.

Sean Davis performed a somewhat preaching rap on chains, freedom & the need for forgiveness. Dee Journey did a sultry piece with a stage joint, a memory piece on music & smelling the loss of a love in a market place.

Mojavi, now also going by the name Jav Rux, was once the host of an open mic at Clayton’s Restaurant on Washington Ave., Soul Kitchen, back in the late ‘90s; he talked about the old poets of this area, some (like me) in the audience here tonight, then accompanied himself with music off his phone to a rant on how we are taught oneness through the perfect beat (the soul of Black folk), & dance. Logan, who I remembered from an electric night of poetry & music at Proctor’s Theater some months ago, read an erotic piece from his phone, a memory piece about falling in love to (& with) rhythm & blues.

Adonis Richard, also known as Sincerely Donnie, & who is the very busy Poet Laureate of the City of Schenectady, did his often-performed piece on race & how it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Victorio Reyes, once the Director of the Albany Social Justice Center, now returned from a teaching gig in Puerto Rico, did a piece titled “Statehood?” piling up the well-worn images of tourist attractions, the victim of colonial exploitation.

Hosts Stephanie & Mark noted the presence in the audience of Charles Touhey, the widower of the activist Alice Green, the founder of AMBACC, with a tribute to the long lasting love of Alice & Charles, & all the good they have done for the community of the City of Albany. Then Stephanie ended by singing Carly Simon’s “You make me feel like a natural woman.”

Did I mention the food? I was too busy scribbling my notes & taking pictures to be able to handle an over-flowing plate & fork, but it sure looked good.

Sorry you missed it? Well, this is a monthly event on the third Friday of each month at the Alice Moore Black Arts & Cultural Center, 135 South Pearl St., Albany, NY, 7:00PM to 9:00PM — donations gratefully accepted. 

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.

Favorite Poem Night, April 9

Another event for the Laureate Poetry Series organized by Jay Rogoff, the Poet Laureate of Saratoga Springs, NY, for National Poetry Month this held at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. I've included the entire list of poems below because it makes for an eclectic reading list across the ages. I'm guessing that each of the readers below have more than one "favorite poem," as indeed I do.  

A couple of program notes: Jay Rogoff started off the reading with "West Wind," by that most prolific of writers, Anonymous; Joe Bruchac introduced his reading by singing a Lakota song; & Adriana DiScipio came up from New York City read. The Dutcher Room at the Library was filled with listeners & readers, from throughout the region.

POET POEM READER

Matthew Arnold “Dover Beach”         Peg Boyers

Amiri Baraka  “Preface to a Twenty Volune Suicide Note” Michael Walterich

Jack Butler “The Changing of Vision with Time” George Drew

Samuel Taylor Coleridge  “Kubla Khan.                                      Robert Ridley

Or, A Vision in A Dream    A Fragment”                      

Billy Collins “The Lanyard”         David Graham

Jack Hirschman  “Path”                 Kristina Kulin

Bob Kaufman  “Believe, Believe”         Dan Wilcox

Ted Kooser  “A Glint.”         Johanna Garrison

Adrian Mitchell  “To All in the So-Called Defense  

                                        Industry Poem”                                Andrea Cunliffe

Marge Piercy  “To Be of Use”         Adriana Di Scipio

Sylvia Plath “I Am Vertical”         Autumn Connor

Rumi (trans. Coleman Barks)   “A Community of the Spirit” Kathleen McCoy

Percy Bysshe Shelley “Ozymandias”         Leslie Mechem

William Stafford   “Report to Crazy Horse” Joseph Bruchac

Frank Stanford “The Singing Knives”         Steve Stern

Sara Teasdale           “There Will Come Soft Rains” Barbara Ungar

William Wordsworth From “Ode: Intimations of Immortality 

     from Recollections of Early Childhood”     Rachel Baum

William Butler Yeats “Sailing to Byzantium” Jay Rogoff

Add-ons:

William Shakespeare "Sonnet 29"                                                  Michael Arnish

Wendell Barry            "The Want of Peace"                                    Michael Lubell

John McCrae              "In Flander's Field"                                      Robert Ridley

April is the Foolest Month, April 1

The start of a very busy month. The new Poet Laureate of Saratoga Springs, Jay Rogoff, sent out a list of 14 events in April, starting with this, “an evening of original funny poems by local luminaries,” (including me), in the Downstairs Lounge at the Whitman Brewing Company & Walt Café in Saratoga Springs. Jay was the host & MC; he said he chose the poets because we each had made him laugh out loud at some point in time. He began with his shortest poem, one about bacteria eating grime. We read in alphabetical order.

Joe Bruchac read a series of funny aphorisms, then performed Robert Frost’s “Whose Woods…” as a tango — it was! 

Jackie Craven’s poems point to her quirky, surrealist view of the world; she read “Still Life with Stuffed Olives” & sort of a break-up poem, “In Which I Try to Leave My Husband But Cannot Find the Words.” 

David Graham said he was reading poems from some 30 years ago, “Self-Portrait As a Runner-Up,” & a poem in 2 short parts, “Today Two Things Happened.”

Carol Graser’s funny poems were titled “The Winter She Left Us for Temporary Work in Kansas,” & “The Appendix” (as a woman).

Maggie Greaves began with a poem of collaged lines, “Things My Daughter Said During the Wildfires,” then one written this February “The Empires of Apricots,” & one written in her youth about an imagined figure skater, “Explication of the Presence of Ann Marie.”

Elaine Handley read about everything going bad, “Kafflooey” (which I don’t know how to spell).

After a break, Jay came back to read his poem “Horoscope.”

Susan Kress read a poem, “Tidying Up,” inspired by the Japanese author Marie Kondo, then, using her cellphone as a prop, read “The Muse is in Transit.”

Marilyn McCabe read “Strange Arrangements,” based on her early majoring in Biology in college, then “Lettuce,” &, based on anthropology, “We the People.”

Mary Sanders Shartle read a series of short pieces from a chapbook Advice to the Karma, including found poems (a great source of humorous poems), “Mortise & Tenon Tips” (dedicated to the late poet Naton Leslie, the sexy “Cleans Up with a Glass of Water,” & “Avoiding Fights.” 

Barbara Ungar noted that this was the 1st night of Passover & began with "Free Form Judaism,” then “Grieving for Seniors,” & a poem about her son’s fascination with the word “penis” “Now We Are 15.” 

Nancy White read a poem from 40 years ago, the Biblical “Eve Leaves,” then a monologue in the persona of Bill Clinton, & from her forth-coming collection What She Said, a poem about going to beauty school.

Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos

I brought up the rear by reading in its entirety the mini-chapbook, A Little Book of Irish Pub Jokes (A.P.D., 2023), about my infant grandson & his dog.

There was a little time left, so Jay opened it up to others & a poet he had met in one of his workshops stepped up, Robert Ridley, to read a poem “for Cindy.”

With so many poets reading there were of course many of their poet friends in the audience, including photographer Thomas Dimapoulus who posted some of his photos on his Facebook page. This was a congenial venue for poetry — food & drinks were available — the upstairs bar & cafe are spacious & the staff was friendly & efficient. I have found a new place to go to when I am in Saratoga. https://www.waltandwhitmanbrewing.com/