Gloucester Writers Center Reading, May 4

What could be more natural than to read from my chapbook of poems, Gloucester Notes (FootHills Publishing, 2015), at the Gloucester Writers Center, along with fellow Albany poet Alan Casline, another student of the work of Charles Olson?  I was pleased to see so many of my friends from Cape Ann & beyond gathered in the poet Vincent Ferrini’s former home, backed by his library. Amanda Cook told us about the ongoing programs at the Center, then introduced Henry Ferrini who introduced me by reading my poem “Marsden Hartley’s Eyes,” based on Helen Stein’s painting (also mentioned by Olson in The Maximus Poems (Letter 7, Max. I, 30).

Photo by Jean Dugan

I began with a poem to introduce my Gloucester friends to the Albany poetry scene with “Where Were the Professors?” (I pointed out that Albany & Gloucester are at almost the exact same Latitude, Albany at 42.6525 N, Gloucester at 42.6158 N.) Then, since it was the anniversary of the murders at Kent State in 1970, I read my poem for the student victims “44,000.” On to the Gloucester poems with a piece I wrote, “Angels,” based on Jane Robbins’ drawing in Vincent Ferrini’s book of poems Deluxe Daring (Bliss Publications, 1994), then a old poem referencing Olson’s mornings with a dictionary, “Alba.” I turned to Gloucester Notes varying my set list because I had planned to read “Marsden Hartley’s Eyes” so read instead “The Hopper Painting” (which Peter Anastas had recently published on the Blog Enduring Gloucester — has he had “Marsden Hartley’s Eyes” earlier). I ended, appropriately enough, with poems on ending, the recent “Decomposition” about the smell of old books & a poem from my chapbook Poeming the Prompt “At the End.”

Alan Casline had published what I consider my “greatest hits” Boundless Abodes of Albany (Benevolent Bird Press, 2010); he is the founder/director of the Rootdrinker Institute & coordinates the reading series “Poets of the Earth, Water, Tree & Sky” at the Pine Hollow Arboretum in Slingerlands, NY. He began with a poem from his book 64 Changes (FootHills Publishing, 2015), based on the I Ching, a hexagram he cast today for himself, #27 “Spirit to Serve Alone Helps the World.” What he read tonight was all connected in some way to the work of Charles Olson, or Gloucester, including a poem “Sea Raven” dedicated to Linda Parker (1945 - 2000), who lived briefly with Olson at the end of his life, & a poem she had written “Where Does the Crane Step, for Alan & Me.” Alan included readings from Olson’s Maximus Poems, including the re-telling of Alqonguin myths, which let to Alan reading some of his own retelling of myths & stories. There was even an amusing piece imaging Charles Olson doing email. He ended, as he had started, with the hexagrams he cast this morning, these for the Gloucester Writers Center, #62 ("Preponderance of the Small") & #15 (“Modest Journey Through”) with its reference to the ocean & to Gaia.

The Gloucester Writers Center has a schedule of ongoing events which you can find at its website — check it out.

Singing in the Dark: Poetry of Courage & Witness, April 30

Dawn Marar, Linda Sonia Miller

A fitting end to National Poetry Month was this last reading in the Rensselaerville Library’s 11th Annual Celebration of Poetry Month, held at the Carey Center for Global Good. There were 30 (!) readers scheduled, with a few no-shows, each reading 1 or 2 poems each. With minimal-to-no introductions the afternoon moved right along. Poets Dawn Marar & Linda Miller welcomed us, then a traditional native acknowledgment of the Earth & space by Dianne Sefcik.

Part One began with Daniel Summerhill, the first of the 4 “featured poets,” with “I, Too, Sing America (after Langston Hughes)", & his moving take on a nephew’s autism “Ode to Elijah.” Marianne Rahn-Erikson “How Granny Got Loose.” Leland Kinsey’s graphic poem “Shoveling Fish” was set in Tanganyika.

Jamaluddin Aram

Jamaluddin Aram is a young poet from Kabul, Afghanistan who is currently studying at Union College & stunned us with a poem titled “Annihilation,” then one about the visiting the site of the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan.

Then there were a series of regional poets reading one poem each. Some read the work of others, such as Tim Miller reading Claudia Rankine, Zeva Greendale reading Langston Hughes, Jeanne Finley reading Yassin Aref, Diana Dietrich reading Jimmy Santiago Baca, & Tony Guadagno & Pat Frik reading C.P. Cavafy.

Poets reading their own work were Charlie Burgess (“The Madman”), Dawn Marar (“Manna from Heaven”), Linda Sonia Miller (“We Walked”), Christian Matthew Harris (“Soul”), & Marilyn McCabe (“One Coat”).

Dianne Sefcik

After a pleasant break with snacks, & a cash bar, Part Two began with Victorio Reyes with “Rant (this is not a poem)” & “Rant Part 2.” I followed with my take on the invasion of Iraq in 2003 “Baghdad/Albany.” Nancy Klepsch read “The Invisible Lesbian” then I joined her for a 2-voice “The Negro Travelers’ Motorist Green Book.”

Karen Greendale read a poem by Adam Zagajewski, John Arrighi a poem by Michael Robinson, Richard Ronconi & Joanna Bull one by Juan Felipe Herrera in both Spanish & English, & Sharon Costello a poem by the recently gone C.D. Wright.

(Photo by Petra Marar)

Poets reading their own work were Dianne Sefcik, Lynda Wisdo (an intense piece on sex abuse), Robert Nied (“My Mother Knew Cruelty”), Curtis Flach (“Friends”), Claire North (“The Place to be From”, with a long epigraph), & Philomena Moriarty (a poem to the victims of Hurricane Katrina).

This program was the finale of a month-long series of readings & workshops, including a reading of Cowboy Poetry & a reading of Nature Poetry, up in the hilltown of Rensselareville, sponsored by the community Library, & run by volunteers from the town.

Gloucester Writers Center Open Mic, May 2

There’s poetry everywhere & there is a long history of poets & poetry in Gloucester. Now the Gloucester Writers Center is bringing in writers from across the country for residencies & for readings. They also hold a monthly open mic on the first Monday of the month. I had been invited to read (with Alan Casline) on Wednesday so I came over to Gloucester on Monday so I could attend the open mic. I had been to this open mic once before, back in October.

Tonight there was a baker’s dozen of writers signed up. Amanda Cook was our M.C., limiting each reader to 5 minutes. The first reader was Nelson Baker who read part of a short story, “Remembering Ashley,” set in a diner, with a flashback, about love, loss, & hope. Phil Storey introduced his first piece by talking about the sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick, but his piece, “Exegesis,” had nothing to do with that, then he read what he described as an older poem written back when he had hair, “Full of Grace.” I was next, read “Decomposition” about the smell of old books, then, from Gloucester Notes, “Birthday Poem 2013.” Many of those reading tonight I had also heard back in October, such as Don Kipp, who read a series of short poems, “The Lasting Season,” “Rain” (on haying), “Random Acts on the Field of Attention,” & “The Work-a-Day World.”

Randy Ross acted out a short scene from a play, “The Chronic Singles Handbook” in which a lonely, out-of-work schlemiel, frustrated with internet dating, plans a trip to the Far East. Jim Dinsmore began with a poem titled “Out of West Africa,” then closer to home read a poem about the Annisquam River & cowboys & Indians, a poem for “Womankind,” then the philosophical ponderings of “You Never Leave the Mind of God.” Bebe Nelson read from a journal she is keeping about her husband’s treatment for prostate cancer “Job’s Syndrome.” Amanda Cook read 4 very-short fragments, just note-book jottings of things seen or thought of throughout the day. Dan Duffy read from his recently published memoir Brother, Brother about his cross-country search for his brother.

Annika Rosenving read poems from her phone, that she had written on her phone, a richly imagistic piece “I Lost the Meaning of Words,” another on keeping count of her losses. Virginia read an exercise from a veterans writing workshop, a prose piece about “an awakening” on a cruise when she impulsively goes on a submarine trip. Abigail Cook talked about writing poetry in school, but that she prefers to do it on her own, & found a list of unusual words & read us a series of sentences using the words. Sam Cook took a different approach to words reading sound poems, his own & one from Michael McClure’s Ghost Tantras.

So if you are in Gloucester or the Cape Ann area on the first Monday of the month, check out the open mic at 7:30PM at the Gloucester Writers Center, 126 East Main St. Gloucester, MA (poet Vincent Ferrini’s old place). Also check out the ongoing series of readings, lectures, etc. at the GWC throughout the year.

Crafted (Poetry Showcase & Book-Signing), May 1

Crafted is the title of Daniel Summerhill’s new book of poetry (Genesis Press) & this event, held at the Steamer 10 Theater in Albany, NY was a reading to launch the book. Just because “National Poetry Month” is over doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of more poetry readings around, I mean, In Albany, Ever Day is Poetry Month, right?

Daniel also served as a host for a brief reading by 4 female poets, 2 of whom share his first name, such as Daniela Toosie Watson, who performed a poem about her experience as a young girl learning to speak English, “Linguistics of Broken English,” then a piece on confronting anxiety & depression “Love Found Me.”

Daniel introduced Tenesha Smith as an older mentor who, when she left Oakland, CA before him, left behind a scrapbook of poems that was one of his earliest poetic influences. She began with a piece about a friend’s “secret” (her abuse), then a celebratory piece on women’s glory as Eve, complete with an appearance of an “Adam” sending mixed messages; then a piece from her days in Oakland, “A Letter to the Brother at the Corner Store,” with M.C. Graffiti doing sounds.

Amani O performed a couple of motivational-type poems, the first titled “Get Free,” the second with the refrain that we are all made of star dust (or as Tom Nattell said, “Star dust is us”).

D. (Danielle) Colin did a piece in English & Creole for a cousin in Haiti who died, then a self-assertive piece about an answer she wished she had given to someone who had said (& this is the title of the poem) “I Remember You You Are So & So’s Ex-Girl Friend.”

It was their turn, Danielle & Daniela, to introduce Daniel. He began with poems from Crafted, starting with what sounded like his ars poetica “Life Support.” He paid tribute to his hometown with 2 poems, “Grid” & “Oakland,” part description, part commentary on racist violence, then to a piece to his daughter “13 Letters to Genesis.” The short poem “Cliffhanger” is about black mothers fearing for the lives of their sons, while “When We Shall Live” is a hymn to hope. Each time Daniel said “this is my last poem” the audience cried for more.  He turned to his first chapbook, Brown Boys on Stoops (2 Pens & Lint, 2015), for “Ode to Existing (‘Cuz Daddy Said So),” then “Stereotype Unknown,” the wonderfully assertive “Ode to Elijah,” & returned to Crafted for his last poem “Ain’t We Fly” (check it out on YouTube). Daniel Summerhill’s poems are in-your-face with intellect & style, &, well, craft, just like the book says. Oakland’s loss is our gain.

Poets Speak Loud!, April 25

Although WordFest 2016 ended, officially, on on Saturday, there was a continuous chain of poetry, thru Sunday Four Poetry, to this event on Monday night, so one could characterize this as “WordFest ++,” in the back room of McGeary’s. Mary Panza was the host, as usual, & the featured poet was Julie Lomoe, honored & pleased to finally have a featured spot in this venerable venue. But first a bit of the open mic.

Mary had signed me up first while I was having dinner out at the bar & in honor of National Poetry Month I read a poem on poetry, “The Sestina Sestina,” then a poem that is driving directions, “How to Find Clit Court” (an actual street in Colonie, NY). Sylvia Barnard read next, a poem written today “Spring Break” remembering it from her childhood, then one from her book of poems Trees “The Frog Poem.” Mary introduced Ian Macks as the featured poet in September; he read “The Frame-Cutter” then the short piece “A Different Way.”

Janie Oliver, who had read at the WordFest open mic on Friday read a self-assertive list poem, “If Perfect I Can Be…” Her friend who also read Friday night, Mary Dickinson Compton, read a poem written 20 years ago, “A Special Need,” about teaching a young boy to read & write (& the first word he learns to write is “penis”), then a poem about belated birthdays. Adam Tedesco read a poem for “4/20” (the pot holiday) written from the point-of-view of the person with whom he first got high, then (“love poems are stupid”) “Love Poem for my Boss’ Boss.”

Tonight’s featured poet, Julie Lomoe, is also a novelist, her most recent, Hope Dawns Eternal a vampire soap-opera story. She began with a recent poem “The Benjamin Franklin Effect” (that asking for favors makes you popular), then one about being interviewed at her voting place for the recent primary elections, & being quoted in the New York Times, “Hope Dawns in a Grundgy Gun-Club.” The poem titled “Eclipse of the Super-Blood Moon” was about walking her aged dog & thinking about mortality. A poem about performers was “Blinded by the Light,” & she ended with a poem in the words of the protagonist from her latest novel, “Jonah’s Poem.”

As Nick Bisanz took up the collection, Tom Riley read his poem that appears in Up The River #4, “Art” about meeting a ghost at his (the ghost’s) funeral, then a poem with 2 pine trees as characters, & another cemetery poem on the epitaphs on old tombstones. Carrie Czwakiel said her poem “Understood” about dating “a selfish prick” was “a poem to spit it out.” Karen Fabiane was introduced as the featured poet for August & read her stream-of-conscious “Someone Laughs,” then a poem about 2 women talking, “Legionnaire,” read out for the first time. Robb Smith read 2 sections from from his novel Granny Porn (available as a Kindle from Amazon.com), no one sure how to react -- depends. Annie Sauter was just as sexy but in a more appealing style, with a piece about living in the sticks & listening to Bob Dylan, then the sensuous “Touched to Skin.” A nice way to end it & to go home to.

Poets Speak Loud! happens on (most) last Mondays — except May — at McGeary’s on Clinton Square in Albany, NY, about 7:30PM — come early for dinner, stay late for drinks.

Sunday Four Poetry, April 24

You might think of this monthly open mic held in Voorheesville as “WordFest +” this month, following as it did on the heels of the week-long event in Albany. Dennis Sullivan was the sole host today, with Nancy Klepsch as the featured poet (who read at the end).

I ended up as first on the open mic list & read my revised “Labels & Names” (the “Love version”) I did on the streets of our nation’s capital, then for the season “What Passover Has Taught Me.” Paul Amidon read a poem about a grim anniversary “June Third,” then lightened it up with the humorous “Minor League Poet” — hey, it’s good just to be in the league. Dennis Sullivan read about a visit from the ghost of Thomas Merton (“The Visitation”), then, after a brief discourse on language, a poem to his grandson “Birthday Song for Patrick.” Joan Gran, a retired librarian, read just one piece “Rape of the Library.”

Jonathan Bright read 2 poems from his phone, “If Pyramus & Thisbe had Lived in the 20th Century & Survived” (cf. Ovid) (they would’ve been into the Cure), then a work-in-progress “Embryo.” Lloyd Barnhart’s 2 poems were both inspired by memories of his grandfather, “Just Wonder” & “The Stream” (a life lesson). Howard Kogan’s first poem was “The Fall” (an accident, not the season), then a funny rhyme “Bits & Pieces,” & one about an Hasidic friend who lives among “Miracles.” Mark O’Brien began with a short poem-in-progress about looking for a wedding dress with Gail (I guess neither of them is superstitious), & a poem about an unpleasant encounter during his trip to Ireland, “Cousins.” Tom Corrado’s “Screen Dump” du jour was #286 ("The Paradigm Shift"), mixing up stomping grapes & Anne Carson.

Tim Verhaegen reprised the outrageously funny poem he did Friday night at the WordFest Open Mic, complete with show-&-tell photos, “Talking Shit About Eileen Myles & Other Famous Gay Poets…”  Joe Krausman returned to the theme of “names” with his poem “What’s In A Name?” (contra-Shakespeare), & another piece titled “At This Threshold.” Karen Fabiane said her poem “Portrait of a Frankenstein Monster” was written in 1978, but finally published only recently in the online journal Misfit, also read “Andalusian Girls” the title taken from the feminist writer Alison Bechtel. Thérèse Broderick ended the open mic portion of the afternoon with a poem about her father, who was an artist, “Growing Up With Angles.”

I hear Nancy Klepsch read her poems almost every month at the 2nd Sunday @ 2 open mic at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy, but it is only 1 or 2 poems at a time. Today we got to hear her stretch out a bit as the featured poet. She began with an elegy for a cousin, a poem of grief & mortality, but then on to something lighter, a pastiche of “Howl” about the gentrification of Troy “Kvetch.” The poem “The Invisible Lesbian” was, like Tim’s poem, inspired by Eileen Myles, then a dual-voice piece with Jil Hanifan, “The Negro Traveler’s Motorist Green Book.”

Nancy has been writing a series of poems with a character named Rubylith (after a brand of masking tape used in graphic design) & today read 4, including one with Lith (another poem was titled “When Rubylith Changed Her Name to Lilth”) as a teacher, as is Nancy. The poem titled “My Cells” has the author lost in cyberspace, another poem was a meditation on the years in a relationship, while “Non RePro Blues” was about break-ups. “The Queer Horse” (from Robert Frost’s poem) was published in the 2015 Up The River (Issue 3); “Spicey Girls,” a long memoir-like piece, took its title from a Joni Mitchell song. She ended as she started, with an elegy that became a meditation on prayer & words, its food images taken from a chef’s world. A wonderfully varied & far-reaching sample of Nancy’s fine work, that continues.

Sunday Four Poetry takes place on the 4th Sunday of each month at 3:00PM in the Old Songs Community Center in Voorheesville, NY, but will be taking the months of July & August off.

WordFest 2016 — Invitational Slam, April 23

The last night of the 2016 Albany WordFest was an invitational Slam at the Albany Social Justice Center. 3 hot teams competed: 315 (Syracuse), Rock Bottom (Rochester) & Nitty Gritty Slam (Albany). The place was packed & pumped. Jayton London was the host with a somewhat scattered traditional “what is Slam” intro, leaving out the 3-minute rule, & some of the fine points of scoring. No matter, the high energy kept it going with corrections made on the way.

Elizag

The “sacrificial poet,” which is a practice round for the judges, was from Rock Bottom & scored a 27 — a bad sign creating a very small window to the perfect 30. Confusion continued with the very first performer with the scorekeeper not dropping the high & low scores of the 5 given. This was quickly corrected by the experienced Slammers in the house & the appointment of an assistant scorer. The tiny window of score was bracketed by 8.5s that got booed & the 10 that got cheered (even when they got tossed as the low or high).

Symphony

Of course, this being Slam, there was the usual spit, anger, histrionics & over-acting — & speaking too fast. Nitty Gritty Team’s Amani had an eco-piece on Earth Day & Mother Nature. The 315 Team’s “The Confused Poet” did a quieter piece about a fantasy girl. Nitty Gritty’s Elizag confronted the current election rhetoric with “Donald Trump’s Registry,” making the point that we are all Jews or Muslims.

Daniel Summerhill

In the Final Round 315’s Symphony actually read a poem, “My pen bleeds for me…” Also in that round Nitty Gritty’s Daniel Summerhill knocked us out with his sensitive & inspiring poem to a nephew with autism, “Ode to Elijah,” scoring a perfect 30.

So when all the scores & rounds were tallied, it was Nitty Gritty #1, 315 second, & Rock Bottom in third. There was actually another, open Slam to follow, but this tired soul had to leave. It was a high-energy end to the 2016 WordFest — but, as we like to say here, “In Albany, Every Day is WordFest — I mean, Poetry Month.”

Come back often to this website & read more stories about what goes on in my world of poetry.