Rob Couteau at the Van Buren Gallery, February 6

It would take me an entire Blog just to tell you about my connection to poet, painter, short-story writer Rob Couteau, but suffice it say his father was my boss' boss when I worked for the State of New York in the World Trade Center in the 1970s, & I later connected to him when Joe Krausman attempted to prove to me that Jung's theory of Synchronicity was a crock of a lot of hooey. Joe called me a few days ago & said Rob was having a reading at a gallery that was showing his paintings in New Paltz.

I arrived at the Van Buren Gallery, in a stripmall on Main St., just as the reading was beginning. But it wasn't Rob but his attractive girlfriend, Amanda Levin, who was reading Rob's poems as he videographed the reading. The gallery was filled, like Gertrude Stein's living room, with paintings elbow to elbow & head to toe, all Couteau's versions & variations of Picasso paintings from his project "A Year of Picasso."

Amanda read from Rob's forthcoming book of poems The Sleeping Mermaid, a mix of Picasso-related poems & other, more personal, works. The Picasso poems were descriptions of the master's paintings, many were in the room in the form of Rob's versions, such as "Portrait of Maria Therese," "Cat & Bird" & "Weeping Woman." "A Promenade with Walt Whitman" & "The 29th Bather" were homages to the great American poet.

Some of the more personal poems recalled his childhood in Brooklyn, such as "The Country Boys" & "As a Boy in Coney Island" & the wonderful poem about walking with his father in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, "Philosophy." "In the White Room" recalled his days in Paris & I found the strangely titled "Homeland" to be a love poem.

It was an unusual reading to have the poet in the room like any other member of the audience while
someone else read his poems, but it made for an enjoyable afternoon of poetry & art. Look for The Sleeping Mermaid when it comes out later this year.

Caffe Len Open Mic, February 3

The scheduled featured reader for tonight had to cancel & a last minute call from Carol Graser recruited Don Levy, then Don recruited me to be his driver (not that I wouldn've gone anyway, but now at least I had pleasant conversation on our ride). Our host, Carol Graser, began with a poem by Nicole Brossard, then on into the open mic.

Sue Jefts was first up with 2 new seasonal poems, "A Prayer for January," & "Refrain" with geese flying over. Josh McIntyre's 2, characteristically short, poems were "In Tune" & the tender love of "Fasting." Alan Casline read another of his series of poems based on the I Ching, this one titled "Echoes Going By" based on Hexagram #12. Victoria (a virgin 1st time reader) started with an tiny untitled piece, then "Anne's Lace" on the flower. Another new poet (pictured at left) was Anastasia with an untitled poem of memories of past summers, of hands, of coffee in Berlin.

The "understudy," Don Levy, took the stage as the featured poet & began with a new poem based on 42nd St., "Broadway Baby." "Captain Ralph" was a memory of childhood TV shows, followed by pondering "finding God" in "The Theology Dept. Lost & Found." At the Washington Ave. YMCA, Don was working-out with the Mayor ("Sweating with the Oldie"), then was in shape to be an "Underwear Boi Wonder." He thought about the days at the QE2 in the "Old Tee-Shirt," bashed the State of Maine for repealing the law permitting gay marriage in "On Golden Douche Bag" & the random use of the word "gay" in "My Gay Toaster Won't Let Go of My Eggo." He ended with the short poem on "The Fine Art of Conversation."

After the break George Fisher read a couple new poems about Albany, one at the Corning Preserve, "Hills" & a bleak poem on a community garden in evening. Margaret Bryant's poem took place in a nursing home, "The View of the Choir" (she is pictured at right). Barbara Garro summarized the life of Robert Frost in "Living a Poet's Life." Another comic interlude (after Don's reading) was Austin Halpern-Graser with a stand-up routine on his phobias & on potatoes. W.D. Clarke's poems were inspired by the 2nd California gold rush in the 1970s, "California Gold Fields" & "The Ballad of Robert Brill." Nancy DeNofio's "Dancing in the Sunlight" were memories of sea & sand by an old woman in a rocker.

Jill Wickham brought us to Spring & mud with "A Stranger Walks Up to a Mother Playing in the Park" ≈ the shopping story "Because My Husband Refused to Admit to the Gravity of Having My Daughter Roam Free in the Bookstore." Carolee Sherwood's 2 poems were inspired by her home State (see Don's poems), "Slip-Knot" & a poem about the humpback whale. I wore & read "My Scarf" then a poem referencing the Adelphi Hotel, "This Dream is Not About You."

Jessica Barrett read her prose narrative from a community newpaper about an iPod, punning on i-life. Ellen Finn's poem "One of those Days is Every Other Day" was about locking her keys in the car yesterday. Sally Rhoades was the night's last reader & read a poem about the Summer, then "Blue Grey on the River Today" about riding on the train.

Saratoga Springs' classic open mic every first Wednesday at Caffe Lena on Phila St., 7:30. And check other events during Caffe Lena's 50th celebration online http://www.caffelena.org/.

Albany Poets Presents!, February 2

This is a "no-gimmick open mic" at Valentines (sometimes a "no-open-mic gimmick") presented by AlbanyPoets.com. There were a few of us poets with poems in our holsters & even a couple of poets at the bar who came to listen sans poems to read (are we that good?).

Thom Francis has the list in his head under a baseball cap with a "B" on it (for "Boss"?). I went first with a new, short line piece on the "ex-" titled "The Visit," then a "dream" poem & "Summer in California," which I like to read in bars. RM Engelhardt stepped up next with a poem he called "The Whores of Poetry," a litany/list bashing the poets who show up at open mics (note: not a good idea, this is your audience), then he read "Suture" (see my last Blog).

Dain Brammage showed up looking bit like the Unabomber but in a pleasant mood & read the first slam-style poem he ever wrote, "The Message Board Troll" in Dr. Seuss sounding rhythms & rhymes, then a piece about meeting a woman "At the Jazz Club."

Other interesting poets, mostly female, at the bar just shouted encouragement to us guys & made us feel, well, manly, I guess.

This happens -- or not -- on the first Tuesday of each month in the rock club known as Valentines on New Scotland Ave. in Albany, about 8PM -- look for the scruffy characters at the far end of the bar.

VoX, January 29

The second event of this double-header night was up Lark St. & on to Central Ave. at the Fuze Box for the monthly open mic hosted by RM Engelhardt (& celebrating its first anniversay), who started off with his poem "When" looking for a perfect world. Unfortunately, throughout the night we were plagued by a bass-heavy sound system & loud music playing from the bar. Some of us dealt with the mic by not using it & speaking loud, but the music from the bar played on.

I read 2 "Summertime-California" poems, the recently published "My Sather Gate Illumination," & the 1969 remembrance, "Summer in California." Carolee Sherwood wrote a new piece today, untitled, a fantasy of a tailor & pearls, then an alphabet poem, "Eaten Alive, a History of Affection." Jill Wickham's first poem was about a Valentine's Day visit to the cemetary, "The Husband Recalls a Recent Holiday The Feast that Almost Follows;" about her second poem ("The Doll House") she said, "I think this is about a Barbie doll, I'm not sure."

The night's featured poet was Rebecca Schumejda, from Kingston, NY. She gave us a sampling from works-in-progress & from her published chapbooks. First from a new series on the Bill of Rights, "Amending the Heart": family poems, fixing Xmas toys, titles like "Unreasonable Searches" (asking questions), & "Warrant" (summer sex). Then some Winter poems from a new manuscript about a pool-hall, about characters who hung out there, alcohol & gambling, but love as well, tight narratives I've heard before & look forward to having on my table. She read "The Evidence" from her new chapbook, The Map of the Garden (verve bath press, 2009) & finished with "Four Months from Now" Falling Forward (sunnyoutside, 2008). I'm a fan.

RM Engelhardt continued on with ruminations & instructions on what poetry does in "Suture." Shannon Shoemaker recited the melancholy, grey "Valentines Day," having left home without her printed poems. Mary Panza jumped right into with "Roofing & the Art of the KIss." The group known as Murrow (Thom Francis & Keith Spencer) finished off the night with a couple poems with guitar obbligato, including the grim disaster piece "Aftermath".

Vox is each last Friday of the month at the Fuze Box on Central Ave., 8PM. It can get raucous.

Strose Poetry & Prose, January 29

This is the first of a three-readings series featuring student writers from the College of Saint Rose, held at the UAG Gallery on Lark St. in Albany, NY. The readers were Scott Wheatley, a graduate student in the English Department, and Michelle Cabral, an undergraduate in the English Department, reading from non-fiction writing projects. Also featured was special guest Daniel Nester, whose recently released How to Be Inappropriate has been praised as a "deeply funny new collection of booger-flecked non-fiction" (Time Out New York). They were introduced by Kira Brady.

Michelle Cabral read 2 related pieces from her Senior project, the first titled "So Over the Rainbow: the Duff Fragments" which described, defined & complained about being a "Duff" in school but was really about coming out as a lesbian, mixing humor & school angst, the eternal quest of finding out who you are. The second, untitled, piece was also a memoir about coming out, on the phone with her parents. Both pieces sensitively done, with gentle humor, looking back from a better place.

Scott Wheatley read from what he described as a continuation of his senior project at St. Rose, a memoir moving from childhood & a Winter outdoor birthday party at age 10, through Christmas, model building, up to college drinking, but the common thread was Eagles football. Much of the humor was sports dependent & his major effect was to be cleverly outrageous.

The "special guest," Daniel Nester, read a section from a longer piece, "Cousin Mike," about when he was 17 & his father left his mother. It was a touching & moving description of a late 20th Century family life.

This group is to be applauded for bringing these writers down from Academe & opening up their work to share with the community.

Poets Speak Loud!, January 25

& the annual Tom Nattell Tribute Open Mic & Beret Toss, at the Lark Tavern. Back in January 2005 when this series began, Tom was to be the first featured poet. But he was dying of cancer & stepped away from us that morning. So the open mic that night became a tribute/celebration/wake, & we've continued it each year since. Tom was a force behind the beginning of Albany's busy poetry scene & his presence is felt wherever the poets gather. The last Monday was chosen as the day for this reading because that was the day that Tom did the open mic at the QE2 in Albany for 11 years in the 1990s. And I am honored to be the host each year in January at the Lark Tavern & celebrate in a way Tom would approve. Tonight was the 5th anniversary of this monthly open mic. "Star dust is us," Tom said.

Throughout the night I interjected some of Tom's poems, post cards & 3 Guys from Albany recordings in between the other poems so he could be at this event, as indeed he is. So I started the night with the short elegy, "Theology 101."

Sylvia Barnard has recovered from her jet-lag & read a poem about her visit to Istanbul, then "Learning to Read," a sequel to last month's birthday poem. Then Tom with a couple of his memorized hip-hop poems, both untitled, one about Hunter S. Thompson. Julie Lomoe's poem "Golden Years (a dialogue with my inner critic)" was written this morning & is on her Blog.

Jason Crane's "Long Haul" mused on the hard times driving big trucks, & his "Robbie Burns Hat" was an account of his attendance here at last year's beret toss. Ed Rinaldi also had a poem he wrote today, "Riding with the Great Mother & Kerouac into the Mountains," & another from a stint working overnight, "I Just Bought the Balloons." The first of tonight's "virgins" was Tim Ervin with "Saturn's Supper" referencing the classic myth, then "Maya's Revenge" that referred to a Goya painting.

I read my elegy, "Chasing Tom," which has just been accepted by the Paterson Review. Our second virgin, Brenda Rusch, kept it literary with "Mini Loy Jotting Down Notes in Philosophy 110" then a tribute to e.e. cummings. She was followed by Murrow (Thom Francis & Keith Spencer) with 2 favorites, "she's an angel..." & the "new day/turn the page" poem. RM Engelhardt read the poem he wrote in 2005 when Tom died, then "Think Beautiful" & "Suture" (love, words, fucking).

Carolee Sherwood swept us away with "Hologram" on a hurricane & a rogue wave, & read an untitled piece from her notebook that ripped the heart out -- watch for her as a future feature. Jill Wickham confessed she has 8 (!) cats & proceeded to "After Hearing a Concert & Rescuing a Stray Cat the Bickering Couple Concede What They Have Done" (definitely the longest title of the night), then a 2-part his/her anti-valentine/anti-love poem (if it had a title, I missed it).

The poet who signed up as Avery has been back for the last few months with his ironic/sardonic/hiponic (I just made that up) poems; tonight, the portrait of the girl bending over, "What Were You Looking For Anyway," then a sexy blueberry surprise. Shannon Shoemaker got us hot with her sex=love poems, the brand new "I Woke Up" (after sex & she's gone), & the love-addict's lament "Brought Low."

Cheryl A. Rice's poem "Exit 17" could've come from the AAA magazine with it's precise descriptions of the sights along the road to Scranton, but of course there is more to it than that. A.C. Everson's poem "New Year's Blues" was wishes & dreams on 2009's blue Moon. Sally Rhoades brought us back with "Tom Nattell." Now, I often make mistakes, as many readers of this Blog have noticed & tonight was no different, but this mistake could've been fatal (as a regular patron of Tess' Lark Tavern): I mistook Alex Albino's elaborate signature on the sign-up sheet for a cross-out. Good thing Mary Panza corrected me, otherwise we would've missed her 2 poems, "Pestering" where love/desire is like a pimple, & a poem for the year of change, "Declaration of Independence, 2010."

Sometime during the night Thom Francis passed the hat & the Albany poets came up with a generous donation to the Homeless Action Committee -- Thanks, folks! -- & a birthday cake, complete with candles was brought out -- a day early -- & I proved I still had the breath to blow (the candles out). & my best present was a surprise visit from my favorite waitress, Nicole, (who had the night off) & 2 deep hugs -- I'm still feeling them.

Then, on a wonderfully warm night for January, the motley poets meandered to the Robert Burns statue for our annual ritual in memory of Tom Nattell: a candle, a bouquet & the "toss" of the green beret to the head of Robert Burns, where it magically stuck! The picture shows it as it was the next day.

Join us us each last Monday at Tess' Lark Tavern, Madison Ave., Albany, 7:30 PM where Poets Speak Loud!

Sunday Four Poetry, January 24

Up in the hills at the Old Songs Community Center in Voorheesville, NY, a monthly (& motley) gathering of poets, with today's feature being Obeeduid (Mark O'Brien). Mike Burke introduced the event, Dennis Sullivan introduced the poets, & I ended up first on the list. I read "Song of the Tallest Towers," recently published in the Chiron Review, then wore & read "My Scarf."

Jim Williams took a moment to set up his guitar & accompanied himself on a poem in tercets on the story of Oedipus. Larry Rapant's "Developing" was short & to the point, then "Western Ave." described an encounter with the Pink brand-name, & ended with the marvelous list of apologies, "Day of Atonement." Tim Verhaegen was back after not being around & read a group of poems that seemed to linked by a theme of personal assertion, "He," then an untitled piece about coming out, & the last about a once "invisible" man in his office finding himself.

Dennis Sullivan began with a poem in the Irish tradition of "tracing" (talking about ancestors, connections), then one about waking early & watching the clock ("Stripped But Not Bereft"), then a poem that looked back "before" in response to a Catalan writer. Joe Krausman's poem "The Bard at the Concord Hotel" was about hearing the trumpeter Erskine Hawkins playing his signature hit, "Tuxedo Junction," then another poem about a gambler told from the wife's point of view. Alan Casline introduced his poem "Lessons" as a love poem to his wife, but it talked about grief as well; then on to Hexagram #60 of the I Ching, "Enthusiasm on a Cold Morning Walk," then "Dan Driscoll's Watershed Dream."

Tom Corrado's poem "Mis-Matched.com" took us from link to link, so to speak. Sue Cerniglia comes to lots of poetry events (& lots of other stuff as well), but rarely reads; today she read 2 short poems, "Sunshower" (at a favorite place), & the thoughtful "The Certainty of Things Not Done" -- go to see her stepping to the mic.

The day's featured poet, Mark O'Brien, otherwise known as Obeedúid, was introduced by Edie Abrams, with a funny story of forgetting her own name because it wasn't in the written script. Mark's reading was a multi-media event with a repeating series of projected images of what looked like impressionistic landscape paintings but I later found out they started out as photos that he manipulated, bent, played with to get the effect of paintings. He also included a short video montage of words & images on memory. Most of his poems dealt with his family, or family memories ("Looking for the Table to Keep the Memory of It Living"), such as his grandmother "After Gathering in Sheets," or remembering his father's face, then another poem as he looks at his own aging face. He even included a "political" poem, "Home." A nice varied bouquet of pleasant poems.

Then on to Smitty's to gather at the "Poet's Corner" for food, drink & more words as we talked & talked & talked -- Sunday afternoon up in the hills with the poets. Each 4th Sunday of the month at 3PM at the Old Songs Community Center on Main St. in Voorheesville (across from Stewart's), open mic & a featured poet.