Writers Mic, July 10

Back again after a brief hiatus, with our host Jackie Craven. One can join the group &/or get the link for the monthly Zoom from the Facebook site.

First up on the sign-up sheet was Alan Catlin with a couple pieces from a series of food poems, “Our Lady of the Kitchen Appliances” & “Grandmother Morehead’s Aromatic Kitchen.”  

I was next & read my (rejected) entry to the Writers Read event “My Summer Camp,“ then a more recent piece, an observation of an encounter at my birdbath, “A True Story.”

Julie Lomoe reprised the piece she “sang” last Thursday, “Old Crone Blues,”  then a piece I saw her do on the Bennington Zoom open mic last night, “My Last Rock Festival?”

One can always count on Scott Morehouse to provide a dose of irreverent & naughty humor; tonight a tale about Lloyd & Flo getting a new refrigerator in 1937, “The Iceman Cometh & Goeth.”  

Susan Carroll Jewell said that she has been trying to write happier poems; tonight she read another of her rejections from Rattle, this a Haibun titled “The Greatest Story Ever Told” was a true tale about her parents turning their house into a restaurant.

Our host, Jackie Craven, read a poem titled “Black Hole” from what she described as her “home repair dilemma poems”.

With a little time left Jackie asked if anyone had another poem to share & Alan Catlin stepped up with “Found Poem in the Twilight Zone (of Nona Fernandez),” a political poem using lines from Fernandez’s novel, The Twilight Zone (2021).   

This is another of the charming Zoom open mics that seem to be thriving with a hard-core of regular readers, but is open to other writers who want to try out their work. It takes place on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, start time 7:30PM EDT — one can find the link at the Writers Mic Facebook Group page. 

2nd Tuesday All-Genre Open Mic Out of Bennington, July 9

Getting crowded here on Zoom — our host, Charlie Rossiter. After his signature introductory rant — “The Mic is Now Open!”  — 2 rounds, 1 poem each round.

I was “there” early & was 1st on the list. I read 2 of the 3 poems that have just been published in the inaugural issue of The Illegalist published by Dogtown Books in Gloucester, MA. In the 1st round I read about an encounter with a gull, “Hey!” in the 2nd round a piece titled “Last Weekend In Gloucester” which incorporates lines from the poetry of Gerrit Lansing, Vincent Ferrini, Charles Olson, & Tom Nattell.

Tim Verhaegen in his 1st round read a tender, loving tribute poem for “James” a friend for years & shared a screen shot of the poem; later, “Flash Friction” inspired by real events, at the Schenectady rose garden & a photography shoot in the park, with poet Ginny Folger.

Naomi Bindman read a short piece of prose memoir, half in each round, “Coming Back to Center” about doing yoga, potting, & joining her daughter Ellen at yoga.

Julie Lomoe read from the new version of her self-published chapbook of poems, Proof of Process, in the 1st round “My Last Rock Festival?” contrasting descriptions of a recent MassMOCA concert & memories of being at Woodstock in 1969; in the 2nd round, more memories, “Long Ago & Far Away,” a rambling memoir of Milwaukee & her fantasy of fucking famous jazz musicians. 

Ginny Folger began with a funny piece about choosing to be a cat in her next life, “You Can’t Leave Out the Difficult Parts;” then in the next round a portrait of a character titled “Sunday Mornings Sleeping In.” 

Mark O’Brien has been writing versions of stories he has found in old, local newspapers using lines from the original reporting; in the 1st round a piece titled “Knowersville,” the old name for Altamont, NY; in the 2nd round, from old police blotter items, “State News.”

Charlie Rossiter has been going through his archives & read, in the 1st round, a memoir from his Milwaukee days “Good Times Back in the Day;” then, later, an old road poem, of which he has many, “On the High Road to Taos.” 

In the 1st round, Cheryl A. Rice read from a series of poems based on photos by Jason Baldinger, a descriptive piece titled “Boudoir Mirror,” the poem stands on its own without seeing the photo that inspired it; her 2nd round poem was not part of that series, but about dinner at a local restaurant “Shrimp Stuffed Jalapeños.”  

Sharon Smith read a piece titled “Elmer” (the name of a childhood pet) in the first round, imagining her next life as a turtle; her 2nd round piece was about rebuilding a house & her body, both “built in the 1940s", “Structural Integrity.”

In both rounds Francesca Sidoti read from a memoir of 1974/1975, “Anatomy of a Thoroughbred,” being a tall girl, buying big clothes, family conflicts; then, continues, about working at the track, learning how to bet, finding confidence in herself, & herself now. 

Zosia Kessel joined us for the 1st time, & was clearly the youngest reader; she is an intern at the Hudson Valley Writers Guild assigned to write about poetry events, a little healthy competition going on here? She gamely joined in for both rounds, with descriptive pieces; round 1 was titled “Excavators” a description of new construction; her piece in round 2 was titled “After Bernadette Mayer“ one thing after another like one of Bernadette’s associative rambles.

Charlie hosts this Zoom open mic on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, starting at 7:00PM; if you are on his list he will send you the link, but if you are not on the list, send him an email & ask for the link & join us — charliemrossiter@gmail.com 

Writers Read: Summer Camp, June 30

Anyone who has read more than one of these Blogs will note that this is what my site is: it’s about writers reading their works in public — which there is a lot of here in Albany. But not nearly as structured as Writers Read — as it says on it’s website, “We’re a high-quality platform for true, personal stories—650 words, five minutes long—read aloud before an audience by the writer in our highly popular live shows at City Winery New York.” This reading was held in Albany, NY at The Linda, WAMC’s performance space.

The host was Edward McCann, founder & executive editor, with 16 readers of, as far as I could tell without knowing where the line breaks were, prose memoirs on the topic of Summer Camp experiences (or lack there-of). Many of the stories were tinged with humor, sometimes emotionally wrought, sometimes ironic. 

I was surprised by the variety of Summer Camps:

a camp with horses (Wanda Fischer, “Living Camp Through Brochures”); Catholic camps (Susan Toohey, “Ah, Summer Camp, 1968”; Mara Lefebvre, “Misfit Camper”); a camp for the visually impaired (Robert Gumson, “Lighthouse Camp”); gender-segregated camp (Joseph Di Bari, ”The Unenlightened Voyeur”); camp for kids with asthma (Louis Wittig, “Gulag”); Scout camp (Peter Finn, “Unnamed Summit”); a daycare day camp (Casey Vincelettes, “Mulberry”); & then the no-camp/family camp (Carol Fitzgibbons, “Summers on Tully Lake”; Barbara Chepaitis, “Camp Can-You-Dig-It?”).

Then there were the experiences of counselors, either being one (Paul Grondahl, “A Magical Canoe Adventure”), or cruel punishment (Emily Rubin, “Latrine Days”); or trying to pass a swimming test (Kim van Alkemade, “Deep Water Test”).

And sometimes a memory of a specific event, (Stephen Madarazs, “Night March at Camp Wauwepex”); Margaret Reynolds, “Black Tag on Cass Road”); (Anthony Cresswell, “Sentry at the Swamp”).

It all sounded like fun — most of the time. Good writing anyways, whether one went to summer camp, or not. 

There are photos of each of the readers in the album “Writers Read: Summer Camp” at my Flickr site. And visit the Writers Read website for information & for their Call for Entries.

Third Thursday Poetry Night, June 20

Once again a nearly full house, poets supporting their comrade poet, tonight’s featured reader, Susan Oringel. But first I invoked the night’s Muse, the gone poet Kelly Cherry (1940 - 2022), by reading her poem “Prayer for a Future Beyond Ideology and War,” from Natural Theology (Louisiana State University Press, 1988). Then on to some of the open mic poets who had signed up.

Philomena Moriarty was first on the list with a brand-new piece “Two Views About the Same Scene” as a woman takes out the garbage. Joe Krausman is a longtime regular here on the Third Thursday, tonight read a piece titled “Sins of Place,” pondering mortality. Marea Gordett read a sad poem, an elegy for her son’s fiancée who died of COVID, “Elegy in the Nodding Onions.”

Katrinka Moore actually recognized the Muse, Kelly Cherry, then read a Cento titled “A Chance to See What Comes.” Tom Corrado is up to (at least) #764 in his series of "Screen Dumps," this one set in Provincetown, mentioning famous poets & loggers & diesels. Sylvia Barnard read a poem titled “Tulips in the Desert” inspired by a former student living in Arizona, a metaphor for what poets do.

Our featured reader, Susan Oringel, has been busy promoting her new book, Carnevale (David Roberts Books), including a reading at her book launch in March, at Unity Church in Albany. She started with a poem that took place on this block in Albany, “Middle Aged in Spring,” a broken sonnet. She read a generous selection of poems from the section of the book exploring her relationship with her parents, beginning with a couple of poems on Jewish food, “Song of Coney Island” & “Chopped Chicken Livers.” Other poems looked back to her childhood (“My Father’s Workshop,” “November 1963”, & poems about her mother, “Struck,” & “La Vie en Gris.” The poem “House” celebrated being in her parents house after they were gone.

Both of her parents & her partner died within a short time of each other, Carnevale combines poems in a mosaic of meditations on the way relationships continue. She concluded with poems about her deceased partner, “Sunday Ride” with vignettes of her partner’s parents, “Solstice,” the villanelle “Autumn in Montclair,” then ended, appropriately enough with another meditation on mortality, “Carnival.” 

After a short break for Sue to sell books & me to collect donations, we returned to the open mic list, with me reading “Kesha-Undaka” (the Sanscript word for floaters) based on the Lankavantara Sutra. Ellen Rook, sweating a poem, read a portrait “Still Life With Bachelor Uncle…” on his death. John Thomas Allen read an “experimental poem” about the nature of ideology, titled “Star Burst,” inspired by a woman he dated. Tom Bonville was not "experimental" in his poem “Sat Right” about a crooked picture on his wall (& about his friends).

Lance LeGrys read a piece from a new poetry manuscript, “Pilate Suite” (as in Pontius Pilate), “Pilate Poeticizes,” a dramatic monologue. Alex LeGrys followed (yes, they are related) with a piece titled “The Tannery,” a break-up in the midst of the failure of labor unions. David Gonsalves’ read a 3-part poem with a subtitle “Happy Opportunities: Saturday, 18 May, 2024,” 3 brief vignettes. 

Ba Kaiser read “Snapshot 1947,” as she said, “a captured moment of perfect happiness.” Julie Lomoe “sang” a commentary on aging “Old Crone Blues.” As they say in the Blues world, Elaine Kenyon brought it on home & read a short piece inspired by watching National Grid cut down trees, “If Animals Were.” 

Join us each third Thursday of the month at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY at 7:30PM for a reading by a local, regional or national writer, & an open mic for community poets — $5.00 suggested donation supports poetry events in Albany & the work of the Social Justice Center.

Primary Day in Albany, June 25

This is a day that has been anticipated by many in New York State, but also by me — & my mail carriers. 

Since the “primary season” started up I have received 41 fliers in the mail or left on my door step; the height of the stack is 1/2”, total weight is 1lb. Forty-one is probably not a huge number by some standards, but 1 from each candidate would be enough. When they first began arriving I thought cynically that I would determine for whom I would vote by the number of flyers I received — the candidates with the most flyers would get my votes, sort of like voting itself. But despite what some who know me would say, I’m not that cynical.

I am in the 106 Assembly district; my (former) representative for that district (& neighbor), Pat Fahy, is now running for a Senate seat & the field then is wide-open. There are 6 candidates running for that seat, & 5 of them sent me flyers (I got none from Jack Flynn). Gabriella Romero wins the prize for sending me the most flyers (10), with Dustin Reidy following with 9. The others were Ginnie Farrell & Andrew Joyce, both sent me 5 flyers each; Owusu Anane sent 4, he also has the distinction of sending the largest flyer (8 1/2” x 14”). Most flyers were from all candidates for all offices were 6” x 11”. Romero had the most unusual flyer, one she sent early on that was a color-by-numbers of wildflowers of New York, which I think I’ll save for some Wintry day when I’m unable to get out.

As for candidates for other offices, Lee Kindlon for District Attorney sent 3 flyers, while David Soares sent only 1, which as I said earlier should be enough. There are 3 openings for Albany County Family Court, Judge Ricja Rice sent 2 flyers & Jeff Jamison sent 2; I didn’t hear from the other candidates.

Electioneering is one of many things that make America great already. But enough is enough (or, too much).  So I guess it's time to toss them (except for the Romera color-by-numbers) in the re-cycling bin & clear off my kitchen table. And wait for the election flyers for November.

All Genre Open Mic Out of Bennington, June 11

Back in Bennington — not really, this is a Zoom event — again for poetry. Our host, Charlie Rossiter got us off & running with his signature open mic intro rap — 2 rounds, 1 poem each round.

I’d Zoomed in early & ended up 1st on the list. I’d been going back into my poem vault & pulled up a couple from the past, the 1st, “Noble Truth;” in the 2nd round a take on my favorite poem to recite when I’m at the beach, “Not the 'Walrus & the Carpenter'.”

Tim Verhaegen’s 1st round poem was titled “Almost Gay,” gazing at a younger man,  pondering what his future might be; in the 2nd round he read “I Want It to Be Over” about going to an open mic that was not his cup of tea & went on & on.

In her 1st round Sharon Smith read some advice about what one should do today, titled “If;” later in the 2nd round she read a poem from a poetry workshop, a work still in progress, perhaps titled “21,” with a recurring line beginning “not sure…”

Sherri Bedingfield began with a Nature poem,”Impressions of Flanders,” in the early Spring, “the trees are waiting…” published in an anthology from Orenaug Mountain Publishing; in the 2nd round she read a poem of tender affirmation, “The Field,” for her son.

Our host, Charlie Rossiter, in his 1st round, read a group of Haiku with comments on a variety of topics: on nature trails, a friend in hospice, a cemetery; in the 2nd round read “Lovers Night” that used an evocative line (“I enter her garden”) from a Chinese poem.

Ginny Folger’s 1st round poem, “Deferred,” was a mediation on love & sex, on time & aging; her 2nd round poem was titled “I Remember Being An Aerialist,” with an epigraph from Edgar Allen Poe. 

Both of Tom Nicotera’s poems were from a poetry workshop, the same workshop that Sharon Smith had been in; the 1st round based on a prompt about trading places, “Trading Places with Donald Trump;” the 2nd round poem was from a different prompt, the poem ‘The Dream,” about a street corner preacher. 

Bill Thwing brought out his guitar for both rounds, thus fulfilling the “All Genre…” in the title of this Zoom, in the 1st round, a sad, wistful song that can be found on Soundcloud.com, “Gaza;” in his 2nd round he sang “Foggy Days & Foggy Nights,” a song based on a poem written by his wife. 

Jim Madigan dialed in from the mid-West with a poem about a town after a tornado, “Beauty & Heat in the Ruins;” during his 2nd round he mentioned that he has had a full-length book accepted by Broadstone Books, read a poem set in the West Bank “Olive Grove,” about settlers attacking an old man celebrating the budding of trees. 

Julie Lomoe read a poem in her 1st round written today, “The Old Crone Blues,” in the classic blues form, perhaps proving why some say white women can’t sing the blues; then in her 2nd round brought the evening to a close with “The Terrors of Motherhood” a poem about her daughter, from her Proof of Process book being revised. 

You don’t have to be in Bennington, VT to attend this open mic, I’m not. It happens on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00PM EDT. If you are not already on Charlie’s email list, email him at charliemrossiter@gmail.com & ask for the Zoom link. Poets/writers/musicians sharing writing & music.

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

Although it was June 2, it was the 1st Sunday, this misnomer the result of switching the day this month so that we can all go to the Pride Day festivities in Albany’s Washington Park, the next Sunday, which was the actual 2nd Sunday.

No matter, poets/writers showed up to read just the same. My co-host, Nancy Klepsch, took this one off & so I was the solo host. There were just 5 readers on the list, perhaps indicative of what happens when you switch days for a monthly event usually held on a different day of the month.

Rhonda Rosenheck talked about the soon-to-be published Thriving: An Anthology, of poetry, photographs, & prose writing, which she edited — look for it on Amazon. Her first poem was a Summer Solstice piece titled “Effigy,” written at an artists retreat in Iceland. She followed that up with a new midrash (i.e., Biblical exegesis) “Our Angels Rise & Fall,” based on verses from Genesis.

I wasn’t here last month, but if I had been I would’ve read “Crane Alley,” about the site of the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago, so I read it this day; my 2nd poem was my entry to the Writers Institute call for texts about folks’ experiences with summer camps, my entry a poem titled “My Summer Camp.”

Avery Stempel, the proprietor of Collar City Mushrooms, where we were gathered, had 2 announcements in lieu of 2 poems, the 1st announcement about the establishment of a project about the history of the Albany poetry scene & that they were looking for pieces of remembrance about people & places in the scene in the early days; his 2nd announcement was about the NYS Assembly Bill A10375 to allow “the growth, cultivation, and adult use of psilocybin for the treatment of certain health conditions”; with the session ending soon it is not likely that the Assembly will take up the bill, but they are hopeful to re-introduce it in the next session.

Julie Lomoe read from her new self-published, spiral-bound chapbook, Proof of Process, “Red Alert,” about Donald Trump & a memoir of growing up in Wisconsin amid a similar pending dystopia; her 2nd poem was a celebrity-fantasy “Eclipse, the Brilliance of Charles Mingus,” on Mingus’ song, “Eclipse,” written for Billie Holiday (but not performed by her) & 1st recorded by Mingus in 1953.

Karen Fabiane read her poem “Finding the Car” that is included in the recent CAPS Poetry 25th Anniversary Anthology (I also have a poem included in it); her 2nd poem was was a tribute to Charles Bukowski from the Moonstone Arts Center anthology Remembering Charles Bukowski.

Join us the next time for real on the 2nd Sunday @ 2 for a poetry + prose open mic at Collar City Mushrooms, 333 2nd Ave., Troy, NY — it’s Free! & you can buy
mushrooms & mushroom products.