DiBiase Poetry Contest Reading, June 14

This annual, international poetry contest is, in my opinion, the BEST in the world. It is organized by Albany’s own Bob Sharkey, & judged by him, his family, & selected poets, both locally & nationally. This year was the 10th anniversary of the contest. This reading of the winning poems & other entries was held at the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany, NY.

Bob Sharkey introduced the program, said that there were 383 submissions this year, from poets in 43 countries around the globe. Throughout the reading many of us praised the selection of poems & offered thanks to Bob & his family for this gift of world poetry. Early on the cash prizes had been provided by the family, but with some increased medical expenses this has not become possible. This year financial support has come from the Hudson Valley Writers Guild & from the generosity of individuals in our writing community.

Please note that one may find each of the poems mentioned below, as well as all the other winners, at the Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize website.  

Barbara Ungar started the reading off with her poem “Knocked Back,” written for the poets lost in the last year, which won an Honorable Mention. 

Bob had asked me to read the First Place poem, “Where Language Ends,” by Carlos Andrés Gómez, of Atlanta, Georgia.

Susan Kress read her Honorable Mention poem, “Fire-Proof Box,” with both her husband & her daughter whom are mentioned in the poem in the audience.

“Orpheum” by Will Nixon was a poem inspired by a theater in Kingston, NY, & was a Finalist.
Julie Lomoe’s poem “River Reminiscing” is from her recently self-published collection, Proof of Process, & won an Honorable Mention.

Bob Sharkey read “In My Home-town There Are No Apples” by Chuckwuebuka Alu, from Nigeria, which was a Finalist.

Anna Boughtwood was listed on the program but was unable to attend; her poem “HELL IS FOR HOUSE FLIPPERS” was a Finalist.

Barbara Ungar was back to read the Second Place poem, “You Can’t Put the Red Sea in a Poem” by Joanne Durham.

Mary Panza read “this business of her being older” by Anne Rankin which received an Honorable Mention.

Bob Sharkey read “Traveler’s Guilt” by Melanie Hyo-In Han from the UK, which was a Finalist.

Barbara Ungar closed out the event by reading the Third Place poem “Because” by Alison Stone; Barbara pointed out that there is a recording on YouTube of Alison Stone reading her poem.

Be sure to check out the Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize website for guidelines - you’ll be astonished at how simple they are - & for information on previous years’ winners, & for next year’s deadline.

Saratoga Senior Center Poetry Open Mic, June 13

With our Saratoga host Rachel Baum. Poets & artists helped to arrange/re-arrange/re-re-arrange the chairs.

The featured poet was Barbara Ungar, announcing “a special Issac reading” for this the birthday of her son, inspiration for so many poems, from her books. She began with poems from The Origin of the Milky Way (Gival Press, 2007), “Embryology,” “Matryoshka,” “Isaac Laughing,” & “Mine.” From Immortal Medusa (The Word Works, 2015) the poem “Brigadoon.”  Then on to poems from Save our Ship (Ashland Poetry Press, 2019) “She Drives Home After Viewing the Drown Quilt," “On the Scale of from 1 to 10,” & “Now We Are 15.” She finished up with poems from her most recent book, After Naming the Animals (The Word Works, 2024), “Luck,” “How to Age Gracefully,” & “AP Physics.” Of course the poems, even when inspired by her son, are not the gushings of a proud Mom, but respond to current ecological & political crises, as well as to cultural trends, often with humor, & of course, with grace.

Then on to a substantial list of poets for the open mic, beginning with our host Rachel Baum who read Dorothy Parker’s “One Perfect Rose,” then her own “If There is a Museum of Broken Relationships” riffing on variations/extensions of that. I followed with 2 poems about lady poets, “Sylvia Plath Slept Here,” & “for Marina Tsvetaeva.”

Apparently there had been a suggested theme of “luck” for the open mic, something I had missed, but others did notice. David Graham read 2 poems on that theme, “Self-Portrait As a Lucky Man,” & “Upstairs Downstairs.” Marilyn McCabe read a poem titled “Notre Dame” about being being in Paris at the time of the fire.

David Gonsalves read a piece on the theme titled “Luck,” then a recent poem written just last week “Ramble.” Leslie Sittner read a letter she wrote on November 5, 1963 when she was a literary volunteer in the prison system, to an incarcerated person who coincidentally knew her brother Lance.

Susan Kress read a poem with the word “luck” in it, “Wishlist,” then one titled “Waved Albatros.” Elaine Handley’s poem “Wedding of Heaven & Earth” was a Solstice poem.

Jackie Craven read 2 fantasy poems filled with lush details (like most of her work), the first a description of an apartment, “Zillow 3D,” then “My Unborn Child Lives in a Halfway House.” Joe Bruchac, Saratoga Springs' current Poet Laureate read a series of Haiku on birds, flowers & a willow tree.

This rare daytime poetry reading takes place on the 2nd Friday of each month, at 1:00PM, at the Saratoga Springs Senior Center, 290 West Avenue — you don’t have to be a “Senior” to get in, but it helps.

Odi et Amo: A Symposium on the Roman Poet Gaius Valerius Catullus

This symposium was held on the evening of June 12, 2025 at the Voorheesville (NY) Public Library, conducted by the esteemed Dennis Sullivan with an attentive audience of friends, colleagues, & relatives. I had studied Latin poetry at Fordham University but didn’t take the semester on Catullus (84 to 54 BC) because I wanted to concentrate on learning Greek. But I have read Catullus in various translations over the years. I’m glad I waited for Dennis’ course, I learned more this evening that I’m sure I would’ve in Prof. Peter Pouncey’s course.

Dennis had prepared a packet of over 30 pages that included the text of 8 of Catullus’ poems in Latin with Dennis’ translation, as well as commentary on the poems, including comments from other scholars. There was also a detailed “Prefatory Introduction” & an “Afterword.”

He described his process as not “translating,” but rather “transcribing” as “an eavesdropper on the therapy sessions of a young poet with his analyst,” the 113 poems as 113 therapy sessions. 

He says, “I remain stunned by the man’s insights , his breadth of knowledge — his command of Greek and Latin writers … but to me he’s a Beat poet … he’s Gregory Corso with a touch of Rimbaud but far classier than both together.”

In true symposium fashion there were lively discussions with members of the audience (class?), including on the infamous poem XVI (not included in the translations Dennis shared). He did share a comment from classics professor David Mendelsohn at Bard College, who in a recent article in The New Yorker, wondered if Catullus’ seductive power has “something to do with blow jobs.” Dennis’ comment, “Imagine: ‘blow jobs’ as a lost leader.” Look up poem XVI, or better yet, buy Dennis’ book of translations when it comes out.

Dennis said he spent 2 years on his translation of Catullus, who, he claims, made him a better poet. There are many translations, as well as scholarly commentaries, available, both historical & recent. Dennis recently assured me that his translation is on its way to the printer so be patient. I know it will be on my list.

Thanks to the Voorheesville Public Library, under the capable direction of Sarah Clark for making this event possible.

Pine Hollow Arboretum Poetry Open Mic, June 20

A gathering of many familiar faces for the open mic & for tonight’s featured poet, Tim Wiles. Our host now is poet/local-historian Mark O’Brien.

Tim Wiles began & ended his reading by talking about his performance role as Casey At the Bat when he worked for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. He has since moved on. His reading alternated poems about baseball with other topics of human existence; these included “Watching the Trees,” “She is Not a Chinaberry Tree,” (written in college), a poem about his mother “Toilet Paper Considerations,” one about the murder of George Floyd, “Dunes” (an old love poem), “The Break Up,” &, since we were at the Arboretum, a poem titled “Tree at My Window.”

As for the baseball poems, there were of course a couple about his time when he worked at Doubleday Field (Cooperstown, NY), “Doubleday Field Late Afternoon” (proofreading in the grandstand), & another about a strange conversation he overheard there one day; there was the dizzying poem stringing together the names of players that are actually sentences (e.g., Davey Lopes [around the bases], Ernie Banks [downtown], etc.), “Death then Heaven,” “Dear Mr. Buckner” (i.e., Bill Buckner, of the Red Sox, his tenth-inning error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets remains one of the more memorable plays in baseball history), “12 Short Poems on Baseball,” & “Pony League” from his pov in right field. Then he ended with a story of being taken down by the Secret Service in 2003 as Casey in the presence of former President George H.W. Bush.

A brief break then on to the open mic list. I was up first with 2 poems, “The Cardinal” & “Vamos Gatos” from my baseball chapbook. David Gonsalves read a rambling, meandering piece titled simply “Poem.” Edie Abrams read “Jewish Marriage Vows” about how a husband is supposed to satisfy & make happy his wife, then “My Cat” that she read last night at the SJC.

Mimi Moriarty began with a Cento, “Lines Stolen from Lucille Clifton’s ‘Mercy’,” then a memory poem, “Mother-in-Law” about their first meeting. Kathy Smith read a cleansing rant about her relationship with her ex-, “How to Bake Your Ex A Cake, the Bastard.” The former host of this series at the Arboretum, Alan Casline, read a couple of baseball poems, first a string of historical facts, “Take the Pope Off the Front Page, Yogi Berra Died,” then a piece of wordplay, “Baseball Blues 2024.”

Joe Krausman recited his poem from memory, on Death beginning “A poem walked by…” Tom Corrado continued his magnum opus, Screen Dumps, of random associations with #819, from this to that & back again. Tom Bonville read a piece about a regular column in the Troy Record he read as a youth, “Tell Me Why,” & missing the truth.

Paul Amidon read a poem about an abandoned church & the irony of the surviving sign, “All Are Welcome.” Our host Mark O’Brien began with a memoir of a childhood prank, “Chainsaw Pranksters," then a piece from his continuing series of sonnets, “Correspondence Sonnet.”

Generally held on the third Friday of the month, May through October, at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, Slingerlands, NY, the reading includes an open mic & a featured poet (or 2), 6:00PM sign up, 6:30PM start. Your donation supports the work of the Arboretum.

2nd Sunday @ 2 — Poetry + Prose, June 8

I was the solo co-host this Sunday since Nancy Klepsch was in Albany for the Pride Parade. & it seemed like some of our regulars joined her there or had other places to be on a pleasant (i.e., not raining) Sunday afternoon. In fact, there were as many non-readers as there were poets signed up to read.

First up was Rhonda Rosenheck who read 2 poems from 2015, a poem beginning “I teeter …,” then one written during the Arab Spring & the Occupy movement titled “Seduction.”

Tom Corrado has over 800 individually numbered “Screen Dumps” but this afternoon he read “a chunk” of them strung together from a new chapbook from swimming in happenstance press, particulars, without the number breaks — not that it matters. One can also check out his Blog.

I read 2 poems for the spirit (& reality) of Pride Month, “June 3, 2022” about Allen Ginsberg’s birthday, & “Here I Sit in Solitude,” honoring another great Gay poet, Walt Whitman.

This open mic for poetry + prose is called 2nd Sunday @ 2 which tells you most of what you have to know — the rest is that it is held at Collar Works, an arts collective at a former bank building at 50 4th St., Troy, NY  

Poetry at La Perla May 28

This is starting to become a habit — got to La Perla early enough to have a relaxed dinner at the bar, a few other poets at small tables in the bar area, then moved to the casual side room for the open mic. The host is Rhonda Rosenheck.

I grabbed the 1st slot on the open mic list & read a poem for Memorial Day, the old political rant, once the centerpiece of an abandoned novel by the same name, “Richard Nixon Must Die” (dedicated to ALL the victims of the war). Rhonda Rosenheck followed with a senryu titled “All the Wonders,” linking a variety of topics in a series of Haiku — yeast, salt, Godzilla, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Israel/Gaza.

Philip Good read a tribute/meditation, “Alice Notley Passed Away Yesterday” (poet Alice Notley, 1945 - 2025). Julie Lomoe’s piece “November, the End of the Movie” was a leisurely descriptive piece about smelling smoke in her rural neighborhood, then a newer piece inspired by a prompt from Michael Czarnecki on “hope.” Edie Abrams read a poem from her chapbook Mermaid in Metamorphosis (Benevolent Bird Press, 2011), “He Was a Self-Important Little Man,” then another somewhat related, “One Singular Man.”

David Gonsalves read 2 very short poems that went by quickly, “Sparrow” & “Siblings.” Steve Lawrence from the sponsoring organization Arts Letters Numbers read 2 short stories from an old notebook , “The Scene” (almost drowned out by sounds from the adjacent dining room), & “3 Shades of Blacktop.”

There was still some time left in whatever schedule we were on. Julie read a piece about her cat, “Sunny Mae Monday,” & Rhonda a piece about hair, “Wedge Cut.” It was still daylight when I drove home.

Poetry at La Perla takes place on the last Wednesday of the month at La Perla Restaurant at Gregory House Country Inn, 3016 NY-43, Averill Park, NY, in a pleasant room off to the side of the dining area. A special menu for the poets, drinks, or get there early & have dinner in the dining area or at the bar. Bring poems.

Poetry at the Arboretum, May 23

Just like the flowers, the lawns, the trees budding, poetry is back at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, with a new coordinator/host, Mark W. O’Brien. The co-founder of the series, Alan Casline, has passed the baton to Mark, but Alan was in the audience & read as part of the open mic. There was a good turnout of the poetry faithful.

The featured poet was Paul Horton Amidon who had the honor of getting 2 introductions, the first when Mark O’Brien read Paul’s poem “Man Planting Trees” from his first book, then Tom Corrado introduced Paul by thanking him for his years of friendship & being part of the poetry community.

Paul Amidon’s new book is titled Late in the Season just published this year by The Troy Book Makers. He read a generous selection from the book, & included a few poems not in this (or any other) book, including “First Love,” the humorous take on the phrase “Word on the Street,” “Last Train,” &, for Memorial Day, “People You Kill Never Leave You,” based on his military service in Viet Nam. Paul’s poems are straight-forward, easily accessible, often about memories, or with a narrative line. 

The open mic list was a who’s-who of the veteran local poets, beginning with Joe Krausman who read another of his meditations on mortality, “The Great Chain of Being.” 

Edie Abrams read a couple poems from her 2011 chapbook Mermaid in Metamorphosis (from Alan Caslines’s Benevolent Bird Press), “Courage,” & “Watched the Eddy in the Farina,” then another “Last Light.”

David Gonsalves read 2 short bird poems, “Sparrows” & “Tuesday Mourning Doves.” I don’t often see Ron Pavoldi out at open mics but when I do it is usually at venues, like this, in Slingerlands or Voorheesville, so it was a treat to hear this old piece, “The Big Bang Theory,” a tribute to World War II veterans, in particular to Dom, in a nursing home.

Tom Corrado said he has been writing his (in)famous “Screen Dumps” for 12 years now & I know from recent reading he has written well over 700 of these meandering pieces of stream-of-conciousness; he has also been self-publishing them in a series of chapbooks & read from the recent Jump Dump, which my notes say is #22, of which I have many. Tonight he gave me 2 more of his chapbooks, drivebys (2024) & particulars (2025) — now there is a dissertation topic for a graduate student of the future.

Mimi Moriarty read a poem written this year at Easter time, “Cousins,” in which planting daffodils become a metaphor for the family, then a poem in 5 stages, “Waiting for Tires.” This being the return of this series that reunites poets associated with various poetry venues in Voorheesville, I dug out an old poem that parodies a collection of writing by “the Poets, Writers, Folklorists, and Historians of Albany County…” that includes many of the writers here tonight, The Annals of Perious Frink (Benevolent Bird Press, 2007; my poem is titled “The Anals of Perious Frink;” then I read one of my poem cards, “Cafe Society,” recently published in an anthology of poems by folks living in New York State.

The venerable former host of this series & the published of Benevolent Bird Press, Alan Casline, read a piece titled “Screening Screen Testing Test,” layered thoughts on medical advice — or perhaps separate poems strung together. Tom Bonville read a short piece beginning “I slept to dream…” Mark O’Brien read a piece he said was inspired by Alan Casline, a sonnet based on a wedding notice from the Johnstown Daily Recorder in 1895.

This series is designed to take place on the third Friday of each month (but subject to getting bumped to other Fridays of the month due to program scheduling) at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, 34 Pine Hollow Road, Slingerlands, NY, sign up 6:00PM, start at 6:30PM — a featured poet with an open mic for the rest of us, your donation supports the work of the Arboretum.