2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, July 12

A 2nd Sunday open mic that wasn’t supposed to happen — Back 11 years ago when Nancy Klepsch & I began this partnership hosting a monthly open mic (for poetry & prose) at the Arts Center in Troy, Nancy proposed that we take July & August off (she teaches in a public school system so this pattern is hard-wired for her), I had no objection & that’s the way it was. Until this June at our Zoom gathering Nancy proposed doing the open mic in July; again, I had no objection. Then a week or so later she called to say that she & her partner Lauren were going camping & would I mind hosting the event. Again I had no objection, indeed that’s the great thing about having co-hosts, we can fill in for each other as the need arises. So here we were — & a good thing too: a third of the readers who dialed in were from out-of-state.

& the first of those was Charlie Rossiter from Bennington, Vermont who read “One Chilly August Morning Something Happened” (at Mimi’s Minnesota cottage), & “Ode to the Old TV” & the old TV shows from back then. Charlie hosts a Zoom gathering on the 2nd Tuesday of each month that pre-COVID he did from The Tap House in Bennington.

Sally Rhoades began with a political piece “White Men Walking,” then an excerpt from her memoir written for a class about her father “Planting Beans.”

Howard Kogan was a beloved regular when we used to gather at the Arts Center but tonight dialed in from Ashland, Massachuesett & began with “Slip Rock” about out cowboys out west, & “My Mother’s Pandemic” her germophobia vindicated by the current pandemic.

Jil Hanifan’s short, surreal poem “Nimble Finger Peg” was drawn from the Irish tradition of songs like “the Bonnie Swan” where ghostly harpers use body parts of the dead to make a harp, then read the less-macabre but related “In the Beginning String.”

Ken Hada was online from Oklahoma but has read in Albany & Saratoga in the past on visits to the East; “Woodpecker” took us from the sound & image of the bird on a path to the metaphysical & philosophical, & “Living with Gravity” was equally philosophical about living graciously. Ken directs the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival each year at East Central University in Ada, OK, & has a weekly podcast The Sunday Poems with Ken Hada.

Dan Curley read “The Free Sale” a touching family tale from his book 2019 book Conditional Future Perfect (Wolfson Press).

I read 2 poems from the exhibit of the work of Ruby Silvious pre-shutdown at the Albany Institute of History & Art “The Tone of Ruby’s Images” (from a workshop run by Therese Broderick) & “Museum Goers” otherwise known as “The Wrist-Band Poem.”

Joel Best commented on Jil’s poem saying his own work tends to be surrealistic, read “Blind Love” with its free flowing random connections, a good example.

Julie Lomoe read from her work in progress “Sub-Dural,” a combination of prose & poems, this excerpt titled “Celebrating Life & Death the Unitarian Way” a descriptive essay from February when we could still attend wakes & funerals.

2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose formerly (& perhaps in the future) at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy, 10 months of the year, not usually in July & August, but who knows. Find it on Facebook.

2nd Wednesday Poetry, July 8

Good to be “back” in Schenectady, even better that I could do it from my home in Albany, even better to see that Jackie Craven is continuing this community open mic using Zoom. This was actually the 2nd Zoom event I was on this day, earlier I had attended a Zoom shiva for the mother of my friend Dina.

Here tonight, Alan Catlin was the first reader, beginning with a poem from The Secret Garden, “How We Live Now After Georgia O’Keefe,” then from Lessons of Darkness a couple of the very noir poems based on very noir films, including the “Murdered by the Numbers.”

Susan Jewell read from her on-going project of ekphrastic poems rejected by Rattle magazine “The Crossing,” & another submitted to another ekphrastic magazine “Odysseus Arrives from the Land of the Phoenicians.”

I began with a poem written at a workshop led by Therese Broderick on the art of Ruby Silvious “The Tone of Ruby’s Image,” then a pandemic-themed piece “Easter Sunday,” & one inspired by my granddaughter Jane “A Prayer for Super Heroes.”

Scott Morehouse lead us on an hysterical a-historic trip in 1953 with Eleanor Roosevelt giving Mr. Peanut a ride in her car, smoking & sharing a root beer at Woolworth’s, with Scott even doing a passable imitation of Mrs. Roosevelt’s unforgettable voice.

Sarah Giragosian, who will be reading in Poets in the Park on July 25 read from her new book The Death Spiral “Thumbnails of America” where the country is addressed as a person as in Allen Ginsberg’s “America,” then an eco-poem on climate justice “To the Source.”

Jackie Craven read what she described as “an old dog from 2012 … a complete flop,” a poem titled “Disgeographica” but recently published in Chautauqua — just keep sending those poems out, someone someday will want them.

Kathleen McCoy dialed in a little late, was not going to read, but fortunately was convinced that we wanted to hear her work, so read “Kindred Spirits” about a sculpture in Cork, Ireland honoring the native people of the USA for their support of the Irish during the Famine, then a descriptive piece “Back in Ohio.”

This open mic, now on Zoom, continues the 2nd Wednesday open mic formerly at C.R.E.A.T.E. community space on State St. in Schenectady, & maybe someday we’ll be back there. In the meantime find them on Facebook in a group called WritersMic.

Gloucester Writers Center Open Mic, July 6

Gloucester, as many of you know, is my 2nd favorite place in the world to be, & I haven’t been back there since the beginning of February. The Gloucester Writers Center has a regular open mic on the first Monday of each month, which I have attended a few times over the years. Like many venues, they have gone to an online meeting on Zoom so I decided to tune in this month. It turned out to be a guys’ night out. Roger Davis served as the GWC host, & the other attendee was Robert Guttman, & they wondered what this guy from Albany was doing there. We had great fun.

We began just gabbing, getting to know each other, me explaining my long-time connection to Gloucester. Roger is a former middle-school teacher of math & science (but he had been an English major in college) & returned to poetry after retiring from teaching. Bob is a polo/horse enthusiast & boat-builder. Both have are involved in the Gloucester writing community centered around the Gloucester Writers Center.

I shared my poems from my late January visit/writing retreat on Wonson Cove in East Gloucester, “Hanging Over the Edge,” Helicopters of Peace,” & the magical experience of “6 of Cups.”

I was in a writing workshop with Roger Davis at the Dogtown Writers Festival in September, & have heard him read at a GWC open mic in the past. He is partial to rhyme, said his poems happen that way. The poems he read had the common theme of water, a deep metaphor, he said. When he read “Beyond the Tide” he was able to put the text on the screen, which I found more distracting than just hearing it, the poem “Hints” was a meditation on water in the sea & in the sky inspired by a walk with his wife, while his last piece, “Scintillations”, was a free verse meditation on the light on the water & the presence of God.

I’ve also seen Bob Guttman at past GWC open mics. He is a raconteur with plenty of stories that Roger encouraged him to write down to preserve the history. The piece that he read had strong elements of storytelling, what he said was his “signature piece,” titled “Ode to Mom” written for the dedication of his mother’s tombstone, she had been a code-breaker in World War II, the piece incorporating her phrases of advice from her long life.

I was about to say “if you are in Gloucester on the first Monday of the month…” but for the foreseeable future you can find this open mic through the Gloucester Writers Center website — if if you like what they do — I do — send them a donation.

Stay Home Session: Poetry Night at Caffè Lena, July 1

One of Caffè Lena’s responses to the restrictions on large gatherings of folks, this the monthly poetry night on the first Wednesday of the month, hosted by Carol Graser, held on YouTube. You can also find their music events on YouTube, including this year’s SPAC/Friehofer’s Jazz Festival which I enjoyed as it was happening in the comfort of my home & cheap drinks.

Tonight’s reading was a trio of poets who make this region such a hotbed of vibrant, engaged poetry, Joseph Bruchac, D. Colin, & Bunkong Tuon.

BK read first, primarily from his most recent book The Doctor Will Fix It (Shabda Press, 2019), focusing on his daughter, his wife, & his own response to becoming a father. His poems are part story, part personal questioning, part meditation on existence. BK’s grand theme is family, this book the latest in that exploration. He also read briefly from his other 2 books, And So I Was Blessed (NYQ Books, 2017) & Gruel (NYQ Books 2015). Gruel deals with his early years as a refuge from Cambodia, while And So I Was Blessed contains poems about returning to Southeast Asia as a tourist. He also included a recent poem beginning “America you were brave once… “ saying he loves America so he must criticize it.

D. Colin, who has the amazing task of hosting Poetic Vibe open mic & reading every Monday, (formerly at the Troy Kitchen, now on Zoom), said she was trying tonight her best to balance the positive & the grim. She began with “Magpie” a “fairly new” piece about trying to protect her plants, her self, from racism. From her book Said the Swing to the Hoop (Empress Bohemia Press, 2019) a poem in tribute to her mother & the lessons she taught “The girl dream,” as well as the powerful anthem/manifesto “for every Black Woman who has been called angry.” From Dreaming in Kreyol (Empress Bohemia Press, 2015) she put together into one piece the first 3 poems in the book paying tribute to her family in Haiti. & with careful hope she read her poem, “For the Days Ahead” written on the window of the Arts Center in Troy.

Joseph Bruchac is a familiar figure here at Caffè Lena & throughout the region, & he began as he does with a greeting in “the old language“ (Abenaki) then some notes on his flute, & on to a poem he had just scribbled for Danielle about his own time in Haiti, “Travel Trivia.” He said he was mostly reading new poems, some were “a little raw.” There was a poem for a new anthology of native writers to a young poet who stood up to protect the Missouri River, also one titled “My Grandfather’s Hoe,” another titled “We Remember” (but titled in Abenaki), another to 2 Abenaki rebels, “Tracks Not Left Behind.” The poem “What the Eagle Says to Us” carried the message that a new day will begin, we are not alone. He ended with a piece about walking across Lake Champlain on snow shoes.

You can watch the entire program (& hear poems I didn't tell you about) here.

While this was a stellar evening of local essential poets, I do miss the open mic with its variety & the unexpected unknown — maybe someday again soon — in person.

2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, June 14

Zoom with co-hosts Dan Wilcox & Nancy Klepsch, with the technical assistance of Dan Curley, who started us off with an older poem “The Cinema of the ’70s” about the 1973 Steve McQueen film Papillon & about “sticking it to the Man.”

Katt’s poem harkened back to the end of last year & was about eating an orange in New York in the Winter.

Sally Rhoades has been writing memoir pieces about her family & today read “The House that was Never Built” that was for her mother & father.

I read a poem with a nod to Pride Month “Men Don’t Write Flower Poems” the title a remark made by poet John Montague in one of his poetry workshops, then “A Prayer for Super Heroes” a little piece inspired by my granddaughter Jane.

Jil Hanifan read “Enough” about the pain of living in small towns -- ah, yes.

Julie Lomoe premiered an opt-ed piece submitted to the Albany Times Union about the suspected mental impairment diagnosis of the President “Duty to Warn the Danger of Donald Trump” (her title).

Nancy Klepsch read a poem as a chart “Key Strategies to Surviving the Pandemic…” from her experience based on a list of things to do, then the audience participation piece “Say Your Batterer’s Name.”

Joel Best said that his piece “Willy Nilly” was in his usual stream of consciousness style, while his 2nd piece “Always Down” was more “sentimental.”

Nancy Dunlop read a prose poem about defiance written after a conversation with a neighbor about going to Walmart with her son after the shootings in El Paso & Dayton then a piece titled “The End of the House.”

(Bob Sharkey had also joined the call but had to leave before he got a chance to read — maybe next time.)

Speaking of “next time” we will be meeting again on Zoom on the 2nd Sunday of July (the 12th) @ 2PM for Poetry + Prose. Visit the Facebook group for information https://www.facebook.com/groups/917479018383130/

2nd Tuesday Open Mic, June 9

Bennington in my home, on Zoom since we can’t get into the Tap House anyway, with our host for spoken word, music, whatever you want to do with words, Charlie Rossiter. We did 2 rounds.

I was first up with an old poem for the Black Lives Matter events all around us, “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” for Tamir Rice, then in the 2nd round, a new piece in 2 columns “My Life with Birds.” Julie Lomoe was at this open mic for the first time, mainly because she didn’t have to drive to Bennington & read a couple pieces about her mother, in the first round “My Mother’s Head” about her passing out at a club with the Modern Jazz Quartet, & in a similar vein about going to jazz clubs in Milwaukee with her mother stalking black musicians “Jazz Crazy.”

Laura’s first poem was a splendid description of moss “Shady in the Park,” then later she read a memoir of learning with a friend to ride a unicycle “The Helper.” Charlie, with the accompaniment of his son Jack Rossiter-Munley on guitar, performed his poem with the title of a famous blues tune “Sweet Home Chicago,” then in the second round a real-life tale of speeding in New Mexico “Frontier.”

Tom Nicotera, Zooming in from Connecticut, also had real-life tales, “Blues for America” from 2009 at a late-night Motel 6 accompanying himself on harmonica, then in the 2nd round a real-life bird poem “Turkey Love.” Jack Rossiter-Munley did a couple pieces on guitar, the first a mashup of Bob Dylan’s “North Country Blues” & Bruce Springstein’s “Born in the USA” both harkening back to Woody Guthrie, then, as the night's final performer a blues “Make it Rain.”

Can’t say I missed the hour drive to Bennington, except that then I would’ve had time to spend with Charlie & Jack, but it was a pleasant gathering of poets, albeit electronically — no hugs allowed, but at least I didn't have to wear pants.

Zooming Around Poetry Events

When I started this Blog in early 2007 my intent, partially, was to use it to document poetry readings & other literary events that I attend. By & large my entries are the only evidence available online of who read & what they read. It was a logical step from my handwritten notebooks I’d been keeping about the readings & open mics since 1987, notebooks that sit un-viewed in my private archive, to typing them up for my Blogspot site. As the banner says, “It's not the truth but it’s pretty darn close.”

Once we entered The Age of Covid-19 some of the poetry open mics started to try out the variety of online options — Zoom, Google Meet, YouTube, etc. I’ve gotten comfortable with Zoom, even hosted my first event on that platform, the annual Walt Whitman Birthday Celebration reading of “Song of Myself” on May 31. It wasn’t the same as being in Washington Park at the Robert Burns statue, but we did have readers from as far away as Florida, Ohio, & Treadwell, NY. I didn’t record it so “… it is gone in the air, you can never capture it again” as Eric Dolphy once said, but then I never record the Walt Whitman reading because you can read it yourself anywhere anytime.  We had about 18 folks in attendance & volunteering to read a section or more to get us through that gran poem once again.

So I’ve actually written Blogs about the online open mics I’ve attended & found it is the same — & different — as being there in person. One problem I had to overcome was how to take my customary photos. But the machine can do it for me, all I had to do was to take a dump, I mean a screen dump. Of course, it was a throw of the dice getting everyone in their own little thumbnails looking good, not picking their nose, whatever. One thing that does make attending online readings very different from in-person events is that I don’t have to wear pants.

However I’ve “been” to other readings that were recorded online, someone else doing the archiving, so I could take the afternoon, or evening, off. One was a memorial to the Irish poet Eavan Boland who died earlier this year. The hour program was organized by Poetry Ireland, on May 27, 8PM their time, a comfortable 3PM here, & included poets in Ireland & the US reading Boland’s poems & talking about their connections with her. Eavan Boland had been in Albany as a guest of the NYS Writers Institute a couple times. I photographed her early on at the NYS Museum on November 20, 1987, before I knew I was building an archive of readings in Albany.

A more recent event was a live reading at Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY on the first Wednesday in June, no open mic as they normally do, but 3 engaging, entertaining poets, recorded on YouTube.  The 3 poets were Carol Graser, who is the host of the in-person open mic at Caffè Lena, Philip Memmer from Syracuse, & Barbara Ungar who is no stranger to Caffè Lena. Since you can experience this reading yourself on YouTube, I’ll just summarize each reader’s program.

It was good to hear Carol stretch out here rather than just the 1 poem she does at the open mic. Her reading included the venerable “Tribe” & a generous selection of her persona poems in the voice of inanimate objects, such as “The Ironing Board” & “The Haiku.” Her quiet poems are much more powerful for that quietness, & are filled with the leaps of language that make the listener sit up & notice.

Philip Memmer, like Barbara Ungar, had been scheduled to be featured at Caffè Lena just as everything was shut down during the pandemic. He read mostly from his recent book Pantheon (Lost Horse Press, 2019), poems written in the voice of imaginary gods, such as “The God of Driving Alone,” & “The God of Importance.”

Barbara Ungar read mostly from 2 books, her fabulous abecedarian Save Our Ships (Ashland Poetry Press, 2019) & from a new, limited edition from chapbook from Ethel Press, EDGE, named for the list of Evolutionarily Distinct & Globally Endangered species, a theme that is also treated in Save Our Ships.

Check out both recordings of the Eavan Boland Memorial & the Caffè Lena readings in the links provided above.  & look for online open mics to get your of poetry -- until we can meet again in person.