Live from the Living Room, June 13

In the cozy living room of the Capital District Gay & Lesbian Community Center, with our host, Don Levy --

The feature, who always reads first, before the open mic, was Shaun Baxter who, while minimizing his skill as a poet, perhaps because he writes mainly very short poems, gave a wonderful reading of his mainly very short poems (I was hoping for a reading of his pastiche of Ginsberg's "A Supermarket in California", about Border's, but he said later he couldn't find his copy -- uh oh). His poems ranged from "Carpe Beer" to a "Wedding on the Town Hall Lawn", with stops in between for "Beautiful Blondes," "Woody Allen Films," a cut-up, the juke-boxes at the Palais Royale, his classic "Advice," among others. Shaun is the host of the 3rd Wednesday reading/open mic at the NightSky Cafe in Schenectady that you've read about here & that you must go to.

As usual, there was just a handful (perhaps 2 hands full) of poets for the open mic, but a warm, friendly group. Jim Masters continued his saga of "the Clock" that he began last month with a concrete poem. In "Clock 3" the clock is fixed & is ticking tocking again, then stops again in "Clock 4," is wound & ticks again. Sort of like those movie serials from my childhood where I had to come back next week to find out how Batman got out of that bottomless pit.

I read "Tee-shirt Poems" & for the first time my poem for Marilyn & Bill Day's "Recommitment" ceremony at Still Point.

Grandma A.C. Everson read d.a. levy & Andy Clausen from the Outlaw Bible.

Carol Graser has been attending Bernadette Mayer's workshop so I bet "Pregnant Meeting on Enclosed Land" was from that; she also read about "Listening to Joe Krausman" at the Behind the Egg reading at Point 5 (see my Blog entry dated April 27).

Don inserted himself next & read about being "morbidly obese," got lots of fat laughs; then read poems by Brian Paton & Roger McGough from the '60s era Penguin Modern Poets series (I have #13 that groups Charles Bukowski with Philip Lamantia & Harold Norse, a treasure).

Bob Sharkey went from a meditation on "The Overturned Leaf" to the St. Patrick's Day Parade in NYC ("City 2").

P.R. Dyjak quoted Stanley Kunitz's line, "a little blossom of a beast" then read a "Jasmine" (a former dog) & then a tiny poem about a tic (the very-short-poem theme of the night). We're going to miss her.

And it was quite proper that Tim Verhaegen read "In My Own Way" about going to a gay bar in Maine to end the night.

Always the second Wednesday & always "straight friendly".

Another Poetry Scam

Just out of curiosity I went to www.poetry.com, one of those scams that promise you riches & publication for sending them your poems. I entered my name in the search & found a couple of Dan Wilcoxes, some Daniels, even some Danielles.

None of them are me, I'm the real Dan Wilcox! I mean, some of those poems were really awful (not that I haven't written some awful poems in my time).

Try it yourself -- enter your name & see how many of you there are out there writing really bad poems (I mean, not counting yourself).

Caffe Lena Open Mic, June 6

There were about 26 folks reading in the open mic, in addition to the featured poet Diane Lockward, another big night in Saratoga Springs, with Carol Graser as host. But the evening moved along, with no ego epics, each reader being considerate of those to follow.

There were two "virgins" -- Lisa Temoshok read "Tuesday Night at the Methodist Church," her entry from the recently published Story Quilt collection (introduced earlier by Mary Cuffe-Perez, an oral history of the little town of Galway). The other virgin, Maria D., earned an A+ from her professor for showing up & reading a fine poem about her grandmother, "To Margaret." That professor is Barbara Ungar who (not-so professorially) read a villanelle, "Excuses for Divorce" (Barbara will be one of the Poets in the Park in July).

On the subject of marriage, but from the other end, Mary Kathryn Jablonski read two poems from her series, To the Husband I Have Not Yet Met: Letter 5, in which fishing & lures figure as images; and Letter 6, where she names a dog "Husband." Humor, of course, drives these poems, but with an undercurrent of eroticism & wistful longing, that she emphasizes in her careful, expressive reading. The more I hear the more I like.

Actually, "fishing" was a theme in Marley Halpern-Graser's stand-up comic routine, deconstructing the phrase, "there are plenty of fish in the ocean."

Another inadvertent "theme" of the evening was poetry workshops, which Tim Verhaegen ripped apart in a revised version of "3AM Echos & Recollections of a Poetry Workshop." His characters (the folks that go to poetry workshops but don't go to poetry readings, or buy or read poetry books) don't know a metaphor from a moving van & are skewered by Tim's gay wit. Diane Lockward mentioned Collete Inez's workshop prompt & then Carol read a sestina from Bernadette Mayer's workshop. The other theme of the night was cows, but that was more of a running, or rather walking, gag. My own poems were about animals, "Springtime Maggie" & "Eight Hermit Thrushes."

Mimi Moriarty had driven up with Tim, made us thirsty with "The River of Stout" & her dream of being in jail with the President (as a drag queen).

I don't know Diane Lockward's work at all. I read a couple poetry zines, try to pay attention to who's out there, but there are a gazillion poets, lots of "awards" & plenty of festivals. She's read at the Dodge Festival, but she is from New Jersey so we know how much easier that is. She read a bunch from her new book What Feeds Us, a couple newer poems & some from a previous book. The poems were humorous, clever, "well-written" but she persisted in reading in a stylized sing-song voice, like plain-song, that worked for her curse poem, "Invective Against the Bumblebee", but got very old very fast. I suspect she has been to a lot of workshops. If you want to read a good analysis of her reading check out Karin's comments on http://knitting-and.blogspot.com/.

Speaking of Karin M.T., I'm so glad she was there, with Sally Rhoades. Karin read a poem about a yard sale, & her Autobahn poem again. Sally read 2 never read before, one a letter to dance friends that morphed into a powerful political piece.

There were some "returning" poets. David Mook did some place-centered poems, "Frenchtown Bridge Renovation" & "Lake Galena", while Eric Hauenstein returned with a poem about the Atlantic Ocean & one about the Pacific; I guess that's where he's been.

Of course, the stalwarts of the Saratoga poetry scene were there, including Sue Jefts; Marilyn McCabe; Mary Sanders Shartle announced the demise of the Saratoga Poetry Zone (more on that in a future Blog); Mary Melvin (who did just fine from the floor without a mic), introduced "Mother Always Wore Lipstick" as a "memory poem", a reference to an earlier poet's comment (& made me think, "aren't they all?"); Jeff Jurgens bouncing around the stage; &, of course, Barbara Garro "Lost in Love."

Then there were "the kids", some young, high-school age poets, the future features somewhere, eventual open-mic hosts. Tanya Russell & Marissa LaFleur both read untitled notebook entries, & we were so glad to have them. And returning from last month were Noah Davies-Mason with a metaphysical rant or sorts, & Nikolais Shumer on death & suicide.

I mustn't leave out James Schlett & his little poems from a trip to Pittsfield. The evening ended with Pat Dyjak handling vegetables at the co-op, and on the beach at Lake Michigan.

Thank you, Carol, for bringing out so many good poets -- Every 1st Wednesday, Caffe Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti on Poetry Workshops

This is from Poets & Writers magazine, March-April 2007, from an (insipid) interview by Julia Older (who seemed more interested in showing off her vapid background).

Q: "...what do you think of workshops?"

Ferlinghetti: "... So the poetry workshop serves a wonderful purpose for lost souls trying to find themselves in poetry. But if you're in a big city, you don't need it. I think it's better for poets to stay away from poetry workshops..."

Q: "And do you think a poet can learn a lot just by reading poetry?"

Ferlinghetti: "Yes, it's much better just to read it. And then I think -- can you imagine Keats or Shelley going to a poetry workshop?"

Unfortunately, poets who go to workshops but don't go to poetry readings won't be reading this Blog -- maybe those of you who do both can help spread the word.

Albany Poets Present...The No Gimmick Open Mic, June 5

The first Tuesday open mic at Valentines, with the gimmick being there is no gimmick -- your host el Presidente Thom Francis. Or the gimmick is it is a pleasant 2 beers evening at Valentine's with friends, reading poems, talking about grandchildren, the upcoming weekend, poetry events, whatever, waiting for the tour bus that broke down in Selkirk. Even so, there was one new poet -- the magic of open mics.

I went first, as I've said before, because #1 was empty (as were 2 through whatever, with Marty taking the last spot). I did "Eight Hermit Thrushes" & the older "Tee-shirt Poems", which I'm glad I found again.

Sylvia Barnard did her "picnic poem" again, & it holds together nicely.

Annine, aka A.C. Everson read Allen Ginsberg's "C'mon Pigs of Western Civilization Eat More Grease" from her copy of The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, made Thom & me hungry.

Thom Francis played a guessing game with a poem about a rose & Mary Panza knew it was by Rob Engelhardt, she is such a scholar -- we eagerly await her bio/critical study of Rob.

And then the new poet, Natalie Park, who said she had read once before (someplace) at an open mic, & this was her first time in Albany, and read an elegy to a friend, "What Lasts What Hangs" -- hope to see her later in the month somewhere.

Marty Mulenex told us earlier he will be hosting a poetry open mic at Richard Genest's Moon & River Cafe in Schenectady on Tuesday, June 26 (& perhaps every last Tuesday) at 7PM -- go Marty, go. He read a new poem for the the Gotta Get Gone Festival & "Take it For what It's Worth."

Then, it seems, the proverbial tour bus arrived, too late, & Sahli Cavallero showed up. But enough time for conversation, personal history, flyers & plans for Saturday's (F)Art on Lark.

See, the "gimmick" is just getting folks to show up to have a beer or two, hang out, talk about the stuff of life, read some poems, & go home. No one takes over the world or becomes Poet Laureate, even the bartender (Kim 13) is happy, & we all go home to dream.

First Friday Art Walk, June 1

These "art walks" in so many communities, Kingston, Albany, Troy, Schenectady, are wonderful ways to get people out of their cars & onto the streets. Who goes for the art ("Art")? I'm usually there to see who shows up, grab some (almost) free food & wine. Oh yeah, & wander past the stuff until something/someone grabs me. Now with the weather better there is way too much to see at once. Besides, I ain't no art critic, not like my friend Tim. I hit the usual around Lark St., but didn't make it to Center Galleries (I'll check it out during the week when there are no crowds).

I ran into the aforementioned Tim & got him to tear himself away from Ambrose + Sable ("Changing Spaces") & we rolled down the hill together to St. Anthony's Church on Madison & Grand. The Grand Street Community Arts is trying to renovate the building for community/arts use & stuffed their flyer in the exhibit broadside. In addition, Michael Oatman's blurb for the show, "Vestuary Operatics", also pitched the idea. I'll get back to that at the end.

Overall it was a wonderful event, with 19 artists represented, spread out through the decayed & propped up remains of the church. There was much thoughtful use of the uniqueness of the space, with other pieces just sort of tacked on or included just because the space was big enough, like Abraham Ferraro's "Stationary Climber."

The pieces ran from the decorative (the striking wall drawings), to the obsessively intricate (Chris Harvey's plastic found objects altar piece), to the whimsical (tea bags on the columns' astragals), to the complexly interactive (Sarah Gonek's "Lady of the Brambles"), to the merely self-indulgent (Ryder Cooley suspended in space yet again, in what I can only classify as "smack art"), to the touchingly accidental (Teddy Adams asleep in a folding chair). But the greatest of the "Art" was just the many people from the community, artists & plain (& not so plain) citizens wandering about, talking, meeting friends, sipping wine, chasing their kids.

Now about the effort to "save the building". I was drawn in particular to the next to the line from the Grand St. Community Arts flyer: "We continue to investigate heating options and energy costs." And to the opening that stated "St. Anthony's Church was built in 1907". I'm not so sure what is of such grave historical value here. One hundred years old is a veritable babe-in-the woods in most other parts of the world, even in this country & City. It makes me wonder what "loss" there was to the community when whatever was torn down to build St. Anthony's -- now that would be even older, right? I'm sure it's not just the heating & energy costs that will be outrageous; what about plumbing? Wiring? Perhaps the funds would be better spent to create a new, 21st Century building that could more cheaply & efficiently provide for community space, one that could be designed around the needs of the community. I agree with Michael Oatman's statement, although not in the context he intended: "To herald change." Real change would be to make history, not preserve what is worn out & done for.

Happy Birthday, Walt -- May 31

Last night we gathered in Washington Park, at the Robert Burns Statue, to celebrate Walt Whitman's birthday by reading "Song of Myself". There were 12 readers sharing the duties while others wandered in & out, with their dogs, their babies, their ice cream cones, just to listen for a short or long while.

The long lines, the images from everyday life, the musings on philosophy, spirituality, the pure celebration of occupation, procreation, loafing resonated under the trees & on the grass while Robert Burns looked down from his perch. The multiple voices brought to life Walt's vision of democracy & diversity, the true greatness of America in its people.

If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

Thank you to our readers Sylvia, Sally, Therese, Miriam, Mimi, Robin, Rebecca, Bob, Noah, Sue, & Marty.

See you all again next year -- & in the meantime, look for the schedule of Poets in the Park, 7PM, Saturdays in July, again under the shadow of Robert Burns in Washington Park, Albany.