Poetry Power Hour, February 19

Collar City Mushrooms is not just the breeding ground of mushrooms (if that is the correct term), nor just a retail store for more mushroom varieties than you ever knew, but is also an art gallery & performance space & home to the 2nd Sunday @ 2 Open Mic for Poetry + Prose. Urged on by poet Tim Verhaegen, Avery Stempel, the proprietor of Collar City Mushrooms, put together this poetry event to showcase the work of some of his poetry friends, as well as his own extensive body of work.

It began with a short open mic. I read a dream poem “Lily White,” then Carrie read a poem titled “A Resolution,” & Alexander Perez also read a dream poem.

Avery selected some long-time poetry friends to be the “invited poets” to read, & introduced them with nostalgic reflections on their poetry connection. Samson Dikeman read 2 pieces, apparently untitled, one on the imagined implications on finding a torn corner of a manuscript of music by Mozart, the other in the voice of a dandelion crushed by the stone that was rolled back from the grave of Jesus, with the line “the Savior came 3 days late …”

Mary Panza’s first poem was a pro-Roe manifesto/rant, which she followed with another of her marvelous rants, which are usually addressed to someone (unnamed) who deserves it (I think she should license the rents for people to use as needed).

Amber Jackson began with an untitled poem addressed to “you” (perhaps the poem itself?) about the poem being written; then a poem written today, also untitled, about her mother, on her mother’s birthday.

Tom Verhaegen, whom you can often find here on the 2nd Sunday, read an extended piece about walking in a cemetery, then worries about being mugged there & dying there.

Avery, April 2000, Cafe Web

Then on to Avery’s retrospective/anthology, which he described in the program as “A Mass of Entangled Meanings Delivered by a Wondering Wanderer.” There were 29 titles listed, & while I took notes on many of the poems, I can’t attest to whether he read all of them, though certainly most. He began with what is certainly an Avery classic, “From Me to You,” on building & exchanging a smile. Indeed, his performances can best be described as “enthusiastic,” & a frequent style or manner in his performances is that of a chant, as well as at times singing. 

This day, since there was a printed program, he frequently omitted the title in his performance & at times simply ran the poems together. There were portraits, sometimes satirical, there were philosophical ponderings, an ekphrastic poem (“Portals and Doors”), a Cento composed of texts of friend requests from social media, poems about his childhood memories, tales of installing a ceiling fan, even an audience-participation piece in English & Sanskrit. Phew, it was exhaustive, uplifting, funny & a good time was had by all.

Check out Collar City Mushrooms online for their menu of available mushrooms, mushroom products & wares, & for upcoming events, & art exhibits, & join us each 2nd Sunday at 2PM for Poetry + Prose.

poetic injustice, February 11

There should be no need to wait to February, i.e. “Black History Month,” to bring an array like this of local spoken word & Slam artists & poets together. In fact, the host of this event held at the Troy Music Hall, D. Colin, presents open mics & readings & performances throughout the year at her regular venue, Poetic Vibe (find it on Facebook), as well as other community artistic projects. 

D. Colin started us off with the title poem from her book Dreaming in Kreyol (Empress Bohemia Press, 2015), with the stunning opening line, “I dream in a language that fells like home…” She is an enthusiastic performer of her work with a voice that rings clear like a bell. She returned later with another poem titled “A Drop in the Ocean.”  The program was organized to have performers do a piece, then return later with another, which worked well to keep the keep the energy flowing.

Samira followed with a protest poem, then later with a tribute poem both in a Slam performance style. Mojavi is a poet who has been active in the local poetry scene since he was a student at UAlbany, later ran the open mic series “Soul Kitchen” at Clayton’s Caribbean Restaurant, & was a member of Albany’s Slam team. He did a love poem backed up by DJ T.G.I.F., & later a piece on “words.”

Jamaica Miles is a local activist who often speaks at social justice rallies & demonstrations, tonight she was a poet with 2 personal poems that delved deeply into racism. 

Poetic Visionz is another performer who has been on stage in the local open mic & Slam scene, who often plays on common phrases & words to weave complex philosophical performances. Here he also involved DJ T.G.I.F. in his performance of  “Context Champs Everything,” & later read a love poem.

Zo Zigga did a piece written for this night titled “In Darkness,” then later one titled “Namesake,” both pointedly energetic performances.

The one fly-in-the-ointment, for me, was the stand-up alleged comic whose name I, perhaps fortunately, didn’t catch. Like nearly all performers in this genre he was arrogant, self-inflated & would pick out audience members to whom he directed his remarks. Before he told one “joke” he demanded the audience to “make some noise!” I was tempted to boo but thought better of it. Fortunately the rest of the show continued without him.

Angelique recited a piece from Ntozanke Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, then later performed her own wonderfully affirmative love poem beginning “Here’s to the honey in you…”

Justice was introduced as a black entrepreneur, did a piece drawing the distinction between “ownership” & “being owned,” putting new words on the central issue of slavery & racism.

Rae, a muralist, spoke on a similar theme, “The Contemporary Servitude.” Also at the end of the scheduled program was Tamika with a piece written on the spot, the performers inspiring even more work. 

Apparently I slipped out before the open mic, but what I heard was a wonderful, inspiring affirmation of the power & extent of the spoken word, working to counter racism, & to change, for the better, the historical economic & political power structures.

Let’s keep this kind of energy going in every month of the year.

& you don't have to take my word for it -- you can watch it yourself at https://youtu.be/XuArTWyyWLY

Cap City Slam Showcase, August 1

I’ve yet to get over to the Albany Barn to see the Cap City Slam (formerly Nitty Gritty Slam) so I seized this welcome opportunity to see the folks — all women tonight — in action. It was held in the back room of the Savoy Taproom, scene of many a fine jazz performance back when it was Justin’s. As if in a nod to that history the backdrops were large murals of Miles & Mingus. Amani O+ served as host & M/C. Some of the performers I was familiar with, others were new to me, a welcome mix of old & new.

First up was Laura, who does the college slam locally. She did Slam-style pieces on white crime/black crime, on her grandmother as an immigrant, & a piece from a notebook on being gay. Amani followed with a (“dreaded” as some poetry hosts say) audience participation piece hyping the Cap City Slam monthly event, then a collaborative piece on Joy with Laura, a rare upbeat piece.

poetik uses humor & wordplay to comment on race & body image, beginning with a familiar poem beginning “I’m trying to be a different kind of poet…” Then on to a couple poems from her 2017 collection Labyrinth of a Melaninated Being, both with good doses of humor, “fat Black girl: an aesthetic,” & a food poem “i dream of brunch.”

Ginari (not sure of the spelling) was introduced as being from DC, did a piece about attempting suicide then moving on to make her choices in her life. Sydney’s first piece was a tribute to the mothers & other women in her life, then on to “An Ode to Social Workers & Service Providers Who Wonder How to Get Up Tomorrow,” & “Sex Talk, Different Kind,” & then the first poem she wrote, only 1 year ago.

Liv McKee is a well-known performer on the scene who writes not only Slam pieces but other poems as well. She read a mix of them tonight, including one about the death — & life — of her grandmother, a breakup rant, even Haiku. There was a poem about Blue Whales fucking & one about her first kiss, with a girl, & one on sex workers.

Amani O+ introduced the group for a fun, collaborative poem with Liv, Laura, herself & Sydney.

Amani O+ ended the night with a mixed bag of her own poems, one titled “Brilliance” a poem for poets with new age music from her poem, & a dance song “Grit,” but much more interesting was a favorite “Plantanos & Collard Greens” explaining her mixed heritage, with audience participation, ending with an improvisation song on “Savoy.”

It was a lot of fun, reminding me to get over to the Albany Barn on the 1st Wednesday of the month. Check out their Facebook Page for more information.

Know Reading: Nicole Peyrafitte, February 9

We had the Yes! a Reading series, now we have Know Readings — oh, wait, wrong homophone. This series features only one reader to give them time they say to stretch out a bit. That could be deadly with some poets, but certainly not Nicole Peyrafitte who is always dynamic, scintillating & often humorous. Of course, since this was run by the St. Rocco’s group there was the usual futzing around with equipment, running back for a mic stand, etc. But Nicole, & us, weathered it well.

The program was a mix of readings, chants, films & stills of Nicole’s paintings. She began with her 2015 book Bi-Valve (éditions PLAINE Page), entering the space chanting (en français) “Oh! Oh! Oh!Woman of Oô” The book itself is a colorful mix of her paintings & poems, even a recipe “Clams for 2.” Among the poems she read were “Golden Evasion,” “Black Pleasure,” “For & w/ Georgia O’Keefe,” “Vertigo,” & “I weave therefore I am.” She also showed a video of her performance of “Live Painting” at the Galerie Simoncini in Luxembourg, with Pierre Joris doing a live reading from his poem “Cormorant.” The first half ended with a trailer to her film, Mirage, about the work of contemporary artist/poet Basil King.

The Excelsior Pub on Albany’s Phillip’s Street, in the shadow of the Empire State Plaza, is a neighborhood bar with an refreshing list of craft beers, a tasty pub menu & eclectic maps on the walls — the NYC subway, the Adirondacks, anywhere in New York. The host, Douglas Rothschild, talked about the name of the over-arching series, St. Rocco’s for the Dispossessed, citing the Catholic Saint’s unique iconography, that of revealing a unhealed sore on his thigh, the result of the plague, thus the “dispossessed” appellation. St. Rocco (1295 - 1327) is identified as the patron Saint of dogs & bachelors, which some think are the same thing.

After the break Nicole returned to talk about her film titled Things Fall Where They Lie (which is also her mantra), as she explained that her hometown in France, Luchon, is on the same parallel as Albany. In fact when she & Pierre were still living her one of her signature performances was “Bi-Continental Chowder” during which she made a chowder while reciting her poems about Luchon & showing slides of the connections between there & her place her in Albany. Today she read from her field notes for the cast for her film, a cinéma verité, set in the Pyrenees, shot over the course of 7 days, with a theme/mood for each day for the actors to think about & respond. The notes quoted the philosopher Gaston Bachelard (1884 - 1962), author of, among others, The Poetics of Space. Bachelard said, “Hygiene, then, is a poem,” & “the River is speech without punctuation.” She also showed a clip from a video made from their stay in Boise, Idaho of tumbleweeds, & ended with a another chant.

We were far from “dispossessed” here today in this pleasant pub on a Saturday afternoon, with the poetry & images of Nicole Peyrafitte.

Poetic Vibe, June 11

I hadn’t been to this weekly open mic in some time, have missed the great mix of poets, & made a concentrated effort to get there tonight — & glad I did. The host is poet D. Colin & how she gets the energy to do this each week — must be youth — I don’t know. She got us started with “Artibonite Woman” from her book Dreaming in Kreyol (Empress Bohemia Press, 2015), which I never get tired of hearing, & an untitled work-in-progress on wanting to be loved.

I was first on the sign-up sheet & read my “Golden Shovel for Split This Rock.” Sydney Clifford followed with a poem about losing her dream job “Enough.”

This was V.’s first time here, read a couple pieces on love & hurt & rivals, effectively using hip-hop rhyme to carry the story along. Julie Fresenius began with a poem about a medical procedure “Florescence,” then one titled “Conversations with My Father.” Alijah Pompey’s poem “The Pain I Can Feel” was autobiographical, about drugs & violence in his past (but doing better now), then a poem about personal loss from violence “Lost One.”

Kevin Francis Xavier Callahan started with a rambling introduction to his 5-year mission plan “Easy in My Own Skin.” Star’s pieces were on the theme of Black Lives Matter, the first “Colors” contrasting the colors of social justice with police shootings, the second on black as the new super-power. This was the first time for Ivy D. who began with “Music,” then the sexy “Coconut Colored,” & “Brothers.” I enjoy Liv’s work, writing real poems in a Slam style, tonight a new poem honoring the ancient women in her family “A Poem to the Grandmothers…”.

Elena Fiya Love began with what she described as the 1st Slam poem she wrote “My Vocabulary Stands from a Blooming Flower” then another in similar rhymes “Dark Knight” (not about Batman she said).  Ray had been sitting at the bar, unprepared to read, so free-styled about going to the gym in the early hours & somehow working jerk chicken into the piece. Michael Chambers’ piece was prepared, a long letter he had written as tribute to a woman after they had broken up. Kay L was a performer promoting his music business & did a couple of songs to prepared back-up tapes. Poetik read a new poem on horror movies “Sub-genres,” then read from her new book Labyrinth of a Melaninated Being by asking the audience to call out page numbers, picked page 23, a poem on video games (she will be reading on July 28 in Poets in the Park.

While we had been reading & listening D. Colin was listening & writing, picking out lines, & created a Cento, what she called “take-aways,” lines from what folks had read.

The feature was drummer, rapper, poet Jordan Taylor Hill with drummer Kojo Kofi. It was a musical performance with the words as music & rhythm, some free-style, some philosophical rap, some prison chants that Leadbelly had performed too, & lots of drumming. At one point Kojo tried to teach the audience a song from Ghana about Janey, call & response & enough repetition to learn the sounds/words. Did I mention lots of drumming? A good way to get us boppin’ out the door. But before we did, D. Colin read the group poem (otherwise known as an “exquisite corpse”) from the clip-board passed around all night — I won’t say which was my line. A great night of poetry & drumming, glad I finally got back there.

Poetic Vibe happens every (most) Mondays at the Troy Kitchen on Congress St. in Troy, NY, 7:30, contribution to pay the feature. There is a full bar & a food kitchen & lots of comfy seats. Pick a Monday & go.

Poets of Earth, Water, Tree & Sky: 3 Guys from Albany, September 8

This reading series at the Pine Hollow Arboretum runs from April to November & each September features “performance poetry.” 3 Guys from Albany (Tom Nattell, Charlie Rossiter & Dan Wilcox) has been performing their poetry locally, regionally & in the Albanys of the United States since 1993.

But before the performance the open mic began with Alan Catlin, wearing his 3 Guys from Albany tee shirt, & he read his haibun for Mark W. O’Brien’s Blog, 36 Views of Ononta’kahrhon  then a poem based on lines from a poem by Charles Simic. Howard Kogan read a poem titled “Another Essay on Henry & Waldo,” then one titled “Getting to Know You” & a limerick for 3 Guys from Albany (thanks Howard!). Julie Lomoe in her newly-tinted blue hair read 2 older poems, “Bi-Polar Gaia” & one for the approaching 9/11 anniversary “In Memoriam: Windows on the World.”

Mimi Moriarty read a couple poems for the season, “August 29” (on Hurricane Irene) & a cento “Downpour.” Diane Sefcik’s poems were memoirs of growing up in Brooklyn in the 1950s, “Syrian Bread,” “Scansen’s” (a bar where her family drank), & "Stand 1" (from a series, a story of her brother & sister & a fight). Mike Conner read a seasonal poem “Maple Blight,” then one about Hurricane Katrina “The Water Came & Came.”

I hadn’t seen Joan Gran in a while so it was good to hear her read a couple poems, both about  bees, “Bees & Things” & on gathering honey “The Bee-Keeper.” Paul Amidon began with a poem about insomnia “3 Hours ’til Dawn,” then one titled “Help Wanted” & a childhood memoir “Street Lights.” Philomena Moriarty (no, they are not related, except by poetry) also had a poem about Hurricane Katrina (& her father’s death) “Corpses,” then a related poem on climate change “Adaptation,” & “A Path to the Sea.” Joe Krausman read a couple of rhyming poems, one on growing old, the other about being at Whole Foods. Sally Rhoades read a poem titled “Don’t Put Plastic Flowers on my Grave,” then a memoir piece about reading as a child “80 Railroad St., Malone, NY.”

A new face & voice here was Kareem, who said he was from Brooklyn by way of Schenectady, stepped away from the mic to do a performance piece “A Dilemma Called Time.” Bob Sharkey read another of his fortune-cookie poems, inspired by the work of John Ashbery & Bernadette Mayer, “Convex Fortunes.” Making a neat anagrammic symetry, Alan Casline ended the open mic with another storm poem “Red Cell” & one on Autumn.

Photo by Annine Everson

Charlie & I, with the spirit of Tom Nattell looking over our shoulders, performed a mixed bag of newer pieces & favorites from the 3 Guys repertoire, with Charlie starting off with “Snake Black Solo,” then backed me up on harmonica for “The Blues.” Then into a segment of working-class poems, Charlie’s “Paterson,” my “I Thought I Saw Elvis” & “Going Postal,” & Charlie back for “The Summer I Brought in the Yeast.” He continued with “July 4 in the Year of the Terror” to which I added my response with the same title. On to some randomness, we did Charlie’s “Looking” with the lines on colored strips of paper, & I read “What If…” from randomly shuffled index cards. Our little jazz segment had Charlie reciting “Manhattan Blue” while I stumbled through backup on my alto sax. Charlie’s poem “Love Me Now” was written for 2 voices, while my “love” version of “Labels & Names” required the audience to join in. Mixing humor & politics Charlie read “Even Yuppies Get the Blues” & I, sadly, am still reading “When Donald Trump Farts.” We ended with a complex piece written by Tom Nattell, “Wounded Knee,” with burning sage, hoof rattle & a drum — I hope Tom liked it.

Poets of Earth, Water, Tree & Sky has 2 more gatherings before the Winter sets in, October 6 & November 3, at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, 16 Maple Ave., Slingerlands, NY — 6:30PM.

The Readings Against the End of the World

(I am thrilled to hear that the 24-hour Readings Against the End of the World will once again, since  1993, be held in Albany -- April 21 - 22.  Sign-up starts March 21 at AlbanyPoets.com, where you can find the details about this & the week-long WordFest.  The following story was originally published in a shorter version in The Story of Albany: Told by the Times Union and its readers, sponsored by the Albany Public Library & published by the Times Union in 2009.)

I left Albany in 1964 when I graduated from high school and headed to college in New York City, and in Albany at that time, there were no bagels and no poetry readings. Now there are plenty of both. One of the local figures who helped get Albany’s vibrant poetry scene going was Tom Nattell. I’ll leave the history of bagels in Albany to someone else.

I returned to Albany in 1986 and eventually found myself at the beginning of the poetry open mic scene that has put Albany on the nation’s poetry map. But in 1986, there were only a few poets who read at the music open mic at the 8th Step on Willett St. However, the energizing force was the annual Readings Against the End of the World, a fund-raiser for the Albany Peace & Energy Council. Tom Nattell coordinated the event, beginning in 1984, a response to the Reagan-era ratcheting up of the nuclear arms race. It took place on a weekend at the end of April (or beginning of May), around Earth Day, from Friday midnight to Saturday midnight at various locations, starting at Richard Genest’s Half-Moon Café on lower Madison Ave., then the Social Justice Center, finally at the 1st Presbyterian Church, above the 8th Step. space, on Willett St. I had discovered the RAEW just before moving back to Albany, reading in it for the first time at 8:45 AM in 1986. After I moved to Albany I helped with the fund-raising & volunteered the day of the readings right up to the last one in 1993.

In 1988, Tom asked me to a take a photo of a rag-tag group of Albany environmental, anti-nuke, peace activists, poets and performers, a publicity shot that then appeared in the local newspapers as promotion for the RAEW. Year after year I would help out with the pre-event phone-tree soliciting funds for the event, taking publicity photos weeks before, doing introductions at odd hours during the readings, folding up tables and chairs at the end. And Tom would be there, constantly, 48 hours straight, he claimed.

Many local and regional writers and performers participated, including Harry Staley, Judith Johnson, Enid Dame, Donald Lev, R.M. Engelhardt, Mary Panza, Don Levy, Alan Catlin, Maurice Kenny, Barbara Smith, & others.  And the occasional “celebrity” would show up: Ed Sanders of The Fugs performed a number of times and I have a photo of William Kennedy reading in 1987. It wasn’t just writers reading. Tom always included a “Children’s Hour,” usually at mid-day and other time slots included dancers, folk singers, magicians, and all kinds of collaborative pieces mixing words, music, visual art, movement & props and gimmicks. You never knew what you would see when you showed up, any time of the day or night. By the last RAEW in 1993 about 170 performers were signed up for 10 minute time slots each.

Tom had a sense of when enough was enough (or too much). In 1993 he quietly ended the Readings Against the End of the World after its tenth event. In a Times Union article by Amy Biancolli published just before the reading, Tom was coy, “Things start and things end, and if this (the readings) turns out to be the last one, it was meant to be the last one.” As word got out that this was indeed the last one, there was of course talk of others taking it over, but no one did. There have been other, similar marathon reading events after, but none ever achieved the energy, the number of performers, or the staying power that Tom, APEC & the army of volunteers achieved over the 10 years of the Readings Against the End of the World.

During the interview with Amy Biancolli Tom had also said, “I’ve got other things that I work on and other things that I like to do…” In fact, by this time Tom was running a monthly poetry open mic at the QE2 rock club on Central Ave. and had recently formed the poetry performance group, 3 Guys from Albany, with Dan Wilcox and Charlie Rossiter, and he would go on to write a popular bi-weekly column for Metroland, Albany’s arts & entertainment weekly. “Things start and things end…”

Tom died of cancer in January 2005. During his last month he arranged for his archives of the 10 years of the Readings Against the End of the World to be stored (and available for public scrutiny) at the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives at the University at Albany. Included are files of newspaper clippings and other documents, hours of mostly un-edited video tapes of the readings and binders full of photos. If you ever participated in the Readings Against the End of the World, you’re in there somewhere.

Troy Poetry Mission, October 26

This was the 2nd gathering (I’d missed the first) of a new poetry series at O’Brien’s Public House in Troy, run by former Albany poetry impresario R.M. Engelhardt. The reading took place in a ballroom-sized space off the main bar area. There was no stage, or sound equipment for that matter, so it was hard to decide where to sit, & where the readers would would perform. But we figured it out.

Rob began in the spirit of Halloween (he had brought a talismanic copy of the poetry of E.A. Poe but no one read from it) by reading a poem by Tim Burton about Vincent Price. As often happens, I ended up as 1st on the open mic list, also with a Halloween poem “Zombie Gourd” & one on the election day horrorshow “When Donald Trump Farts.” Brian Dorn approached Halloween with his poem titled “Dark in Me,” then the love poem “Her Attributes.” In the Halloween mode, Tim Lake read a poem about the deceased William Robert Foltin “Killing Frost Descending” then a memoir written in France in 2011 “Flexible Flyers.”

Speaking of France, Mary de la Torre was back in town in the guise of the gentleman assassin, Pierre Francois Lacenaire (1803 - 1836) complete with blood stains on her white, lace-trimmed blouse on her breasts with a poem read first in French, then in English “Blood Karma,” then an erotic poem “I Want.”

Tonight’s featured reader, the first in this new series, was long-time area performer Jason Martin. He began with a piece about growing up in the Adirondacks, as he said, “one of those stories that rhyme” with guitar. Not all of his pieces were with guitar, such as the anti-government eco-poem, “Effects Not Proven,” or the manic “Last Night at the Office” based on Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile…” & speaking of Dylan Jason ended back on guitar with Dylan-style lyrics, accent & mumble. If there had been a stage, Jason would have commanded it as he did the wide-open space of this dance hall — & I wish I had video of his footwork as he played his guitar, the still shot just doesn’t do it justice.

R.M. Engelhardt brought us back to the open mic with a couple of his poems, “Insurrection in Bohemia” & the political preaching of “Dear Candidate.” Karen Fabiane actually descended even further into the far corner of the room to read her poems, first one written today “At Best” with cooking for a pot luck & a drum circle, & another, “Sometimes People.” Devon Simms recited & performed “Nativity,” a Xmas nightmare poem that included the smashing of a creche.

Ed Rinaldi showed up (he only lives a couple blocks away) to read “Hone In” inspired by a photo, & an eco-poem from his Blog “a recycling wishing bird is bones and buttons.”  Perhaps Matthew Sekellick missed Rob’s note on the sign-up sheet, “2 poems,” as he tacked on a few more after his first 2, which were just fine, the first a list of titles of plays he hasn’t written, & the political piece “Where Are the State Funerals For…” (the workers).

It was a fine night of poetry, but no Poe. This series is slated to continue on the last Wednesday of each month at O’Brien’s Public House, 43 3rd St., Troy — 7:30PM sign-up, 8:00PM (or thereabouts) start.

Poetry, Painting & Discussion, October 15

Armando Soto & "The Three Drummers"

Maria Diotte invited me in the past to her eclectic art & performance salons but, up to now, I haven’t been able to commit due to other events I was attending. She invited me to be one of the poets reading tonight & I was available. This was held out in Latham (!) at Music To My Hair Salon on Troy-Schenectady Road, a spacious, bright place with a small performance space with an elevated stage. It was perfect!

Along 2 walls & the stage were the bold, colorful paintings of Armando Soto, who gave us a brief tour. Many of his subjects were musicians: Ray Barretto, Tito Puente, & “The Three Drummers.” There was also a tribute painting to the poet Pedro Pietri (1944 - 2004), & Armando read a couple of Pietri’s poems, including the classic “Telephone Booth (number 905 1/2)” & poetry by Pablo Neruda.

Music by Christophe Ragliacci (know as the clown “Rags”) with an array of shakers, tambourines, cowbells, other percussion instruments for the audience to accompany him.

The first poet to read was “Sauce,” Christopher Caulfield, who gave up part of his time for Devon who read a poem by Sappho. Sauce performed most of his pieces with a guitar. I was next & read 3 poems from 3 of my chapbooks, then ended with “When Donald Trump Farts.”

Jay Renzi, formerly of Troy, now ensconced in Boston (where his accent has become even more pronounced), read mostly short, epigramic poems, ending with an excerpt from a longer piece title “The Crown of the White Goddess.” Jay's best quote was “my favorite person to quote is myself.”

The next act was “Poetry & Percussion by Diotte Sorelle,” who were Maria Diotte reading poem/chants from her notebook while her sister Kristin played congas.

Following the break there was an open mic. The readers included Patrick Harris (who read twice), Devon again with a memoir piece of her own on gender issues, Paula, John who read a love poem which he said was the only poem he’s written, Ed whose children’s short story was longer than any of the featured poets, Michelle with a piece for her late grandmother written just today, & Kristin with a touching poem of sister-love for Maria.

A pleasant night of the arts in an unusual setting that worked well with the art. I hope to see more of these in the future.

Poets of Earth, Water, Tree & Sky, September 9

This month at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, in addition to the usual open mic, the “featured poet” was a puppet show titled “Perious Frink & the Great Barrel Race” presented by The Birdbrain Players, with audience participation.

But first, a little of the open mic with Alan Casline, the brain behind the Birdbrains, as host. I was the first to read (again), 2 related piece, “When Donald Trump Farts” & “The Anals of Perious Frink.”

Christine W. read a couple of untitled pieces, the first a meditation on civilization prompted by seeing a wasp next destroyed by an animal, the second, thoughts on love & relationships inspired by watching the waves at the ocean. John Abbuhl, founder & President of the Pine Hollow Arboretum, read a short, philosophical essay titled “The Universality of Consciousness” then W.S. Merwin’s poem “The Laughing Thrush” to which John had appended his own ending quatrain.

Bob Sharkey is a fan of Frank O’Hara’s Lunch Poems & read “From Ephemera in My Copy of Lunch Poems” like a time-capsule that even contained a flyer for the Third Thursday open mic when it was at the Lark St. Bookshop, then a piece that recalled the uprising at Attica prison 45 years ago this month “At the Fair.” Peter Boudreaux was standing straight to read “The Party” & the random lines of “Infinity.” Mark O’Brien read “September Prompt” which was from a poetry workshop, one of those long, complicated set of instructions that make me think the workshop leader was putting everyone on, sort of an anti-prompt.

The evening’s featured performance was by The Birdbrain Players, a hand-puppet romp titled “Perious Frink & the Great Barrel Race.” The cast & crew included Alan Casline, Jennifer Pearse, Annine Everson, Mark O’Brien & Tom Corrado, & some wonderfully colorful sets, & a story & lines that had the actors themselves, not to mention the audience, in hysterics that threatened the already anarchic production with entropy & chaos. & speaking of the audience, we were encouraged to join in as part of the crowd scene, puppets & people piled together on top of the barrels. It took a while to recover.

When the open mic resumed, puppetter Tom Corrado had barely recovered enough to read, but he did, a couple of his latest “Screen Dumps,” #306 (beer & contrition & poetry) & #308. Tim Verhaegen read a touching personal essay, a memoir from his childhood about visiting his grandfather in the trailer in which he lived behind Tim’s aunt’s house — he knows how to tell a good story. Tim Lake read two pieces from 2007, “Chinese Junk” 3-parts based on paintings of a Chinese boat, & from the 2007 collection The Annals of Perious Frink he read his entry “Finding Linden.”

Poets of Earth, Water, Tree & Sky continues into the Fall before the Winter break at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, featured poets, an open mic, all for a modest donation.