Third Thursday Poetry Night, November 19

Once again at the Social Justice Center. I invoked the muse of the recently star-dusted Lenore Kandel, then our poets lined up. Since the Tour Bus got lost in the back streets of Ravena, we had the rare 2-poem night. You had to be there to benefit.

Alan Catlin did an animal poem "The Dogs on the Beach" (but not your fuzzy, warm animal poem); then read a 5-part poem at Cape Canaveral, Florida, 1986. Sylvia Barnard was going to cheat by reading "a poem in 2 parts" but now could be honest about reading 2 poems, also harassed me with animal poems, "Frogs" & "Ducklings" in Cambridge; there are animal poems & then there are animal poems.

Therese Broderick said "How It is Said", twice, on a death & life . She was followed up by her husband, Frank Robinson, with nods to Therese, "Teenager Looking at Comic Strips" (he rewrites one of her poems), & a literal-minded description of what he was seeing.

Anthony Bernini was "shocked" to be able to do 2 poems tonight, but only read 1, "Border Streams" (a stream in Troy). But I read 2 poems, "Kandinsky's Red Spot" & "This dream is not about you," both recent works.

The featured poet, Barbara Adams, had a bunch of her friends to cheer her on (if your friends & relatives don't come to your readings who will?). She read "backwards," from a new manuscript first. She started with "Butterfly Mood" (that includes an appearance of a deer, another "animal" poem); "In the Oyster Bar" with an old friend, "Squatter's In Eden" (the title poem of the manuscript) is Eve's musings, "Dry Rain," "Thieves" in the British Museum, a poem on Sappho's poems & the "death of poetry", "Closure" (a love poem), & "Sonnet to a Lazy Lover with Apologies to Poor Will." Then on to poems from her previous books, including "Helen's Ghost" on her mother, "Self-Portrait of my Dad," "Prescription," & "Baby Skin, Notes for a Grandchild".

Then after all the announcements as we were just ending, Cyrus who had wandered in from the street to use the bathroom recited a love poem -- life in the big city. & poetry at the Social Justice Center, every third Thursday, 7:30 PM.

Community of Writers Series - Hudson Valley Writers Guild

This year the Community of Writers series sponsored by the Hudson Valley Writers Guild included 3 readings in area public libraries: October 24 at the Albany Public Library, November 5 at the William K. Sanford Town Library (Colonie), & November 22 at the Schenectady County Public Library. The project was made possible in part through Community Art$Grants, a program funded through the State and Local Partnership Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency, and the Arts Council of the Capital Region.

The reading at the Albany Public Library presented 3 local writers in different genres. Harvey Havel is a fiction writer who has published novels & most recently the collection of short stories, From Poets to Protagonists; he read a short fictional memoir about trying to pick up women. Amy Biancolli is familiar to local readers of the Albany Times-Union, where she was a movie critic & arts writer, & currently is a film critic for the Houston Chronicle. She read one of her recent columns & discussed the biz of a film critic. Alan Casline read a piece that incorporated his "3 hats" as a poet, editor & small press publisher, weaving his poems throughout his discussion.

The reading at the Colonie Library included student storytellers from the Maple Hill Middle School in Castleton Stephanie Muller & Emily Bonin, memoirist Susan Morse & author Eric Luper. The main event was the reading by the winners of the HVWG poetry contest. Local poet & HVWG Board member Alan Catlin introduced each of the winners who read us their winning poems & a couple others. First Place winner was Cecele Allen Kraus for "Love Blooms" (after John Ashbery), second place to Will Nixon for "The Prophet of Protrero Hill", & third place to Kathleen C. Elken for "Worn Irish Lace." There were also 3 honorable mentions who read as well, Kathleen A. O'Brien, Susan E. Oringel and Marie-Elizabeth Mali.

There were 12 readers at the Schenectady County Public Library on November 22, moderated by Catherine Norr. Alan Catlin introduced Schenectady County's new Poet Laureate, Steve Hillard Swartz, who read mostly humorous poems with pop culture references & mostly subtle & unobtrusive rhymes. Other poets who read were Melinda Morris Perrin with a string of nature poems, & Malcolm Willison, who included his poem to the Hudson River, "North River." One poet not included on the printed program was Ginny Folger, from the Library's writing program. Most of the rest of the readers read memoir-type story/essays, or history. Sylvie Briber contained both in her dramatic account of tracking down the story of a mid-19th century occupant of her house. Wonja Brucker read about being a young girl in Seoul during the Korean War. Bonnie Harlan-Stankus' stand-up routine was about her mother attempting to return a rice-steamer to Macy's. Sarah Howes told about her happy 4th grade, while Jack Rightmyer described the misery of high school under the Christian Brothers heavy hand. Bill Buell read about the founding of GE & William Patrick read from Saving Troy about his time spent with the Fire Department there. The one foray into prose fiction was from the youngest writer/reader, Rhema Boston, whose stunning piece contained simple, vivid descriptions of rural life & a moving scene between a mother & a daughter.

Many of these folks knew each other from interconnecting peer writing groups, particularly the SCPL Creative Writing Program.

For pictures from these events go to my Flickr! site.

The Memoir Project, November 16

This was the third in a series of readings at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy (NY) going back to May. Tonight's theme was "Family" & was hosted by Marion Roach Smith.

Dona Brent read a series of vignettes that sounded like stand-up comedy bits, complete with a Bronx accent. Each little piece, titled with the apartment number, was about the tenants of that apartment in a building on White Plains Rd. in the Bronx where the author grew up.

Desiree M. Roberts' piece, about the onset of her blindness & it's impact on her siblings, was read by Marion Roach Smith. In it, the family goes for genetic testing to see if any of the other members carries the gene that caused the author's blindness, & their reaction when none do.

Tina Lincer was another author whose piece sounded like a comedy routine. "Cheap Thrills" was about her mother's penchant for bargains & coupon clipping, & how those skills have returned to the author in the midst of the recession.

Rosemary Christle-Renaud's account of caring for her mother with dementia was filled with the irony of her taking on the day-to-day duties while her mother (& the rest of the family) battled over declaring the mother "incompetent".

Elisabeth Henry's piece was the only one told in the third person, skillfully blending the account of a still-birth of a child with a story about raising chickens.

Everyone likes stories about other people's lives, but for my taste I like to see the hand of the artist in work presented to the public, not just for therapy. Someone once said that all writing is autobiography, which we recognize in all the great novels of the past. Somehow today we value the "authenticity" of memoir over the craft of a good story. Personally I think it's just marketing & pandering to the same impulse towards voyeurism that sells gossip magazines, & makes Oprah, & Jerry Springer & "Entertainment Tonight" so popluar. I prefer the art of On the Road to the "memories" of Angela's Ashes.

No Gimmick Open Mic, November 13

... so I didn't go anywhere after the Jawbone reading & just hung around the UAG Gallery while the University folks headed out & the rest of us settled in for the open mic (run by AlbanyPoets.com) hosted by Mary Panza.

Todd Fabozzi had the perfect seque from one reading to the other with "University of the Streets" from his just-out new book, Crossroads: radical poetry; "The Other America" was about the colonization of native people, then he presented what might happen if "Darwin Twitters Nietszsche".

RM Engelhardt's new poem "2012" has him as tired of the Hollywood Apocalypse as the rest of us; his next poem, as he said, was "Excedra, Excedra, Excedra" an old poem from one of his books, but I couldn't find it ... I read my new poem "Kandinsky's Red Spot," then the older pieces "Poets Talk" & "Her Ass."

The Albany virgin for the night (we always need one) was Marla Segol, imagining "Dream Horses," then "To an Old Lover" who keeps intruding into her thoughts, & then something about mulberries.

This is AlbanyPoets' series on the 2nd Friday of each month at the UAG Gallery on Lark St. (Albany, NY) -- just an open mic, no themes, no features, no free weed, no respect -- perfect.

Jawbone, November 13

This series seems to be resuscitated at the UAG Gallery, though I didn't catch a mention of anything upcoming after this. Anyways, Anna Eyre, who is a grad student in English at the University at Albany, did the introductions to what was a study in contrast.

James Belflower was the first reader. He is the author of Commuter (Instance Press) & he had read back in October with Anna Eyre in the Yes, Reading! series. He read a new piece, "Bird Leaves the Cornice," which seemed to combine a discussion about birds with text from an architectural manual, including a discussion of contour lines. Then he read from the Prologue & an excerpt from the first section of Commuter, having to do with bomb making, like something out of the Anarchist Cookbook. Now I guess this entry will make it on the NSA watch list, if I'm not already.

The poems of Lucyna Prostko were more the human/experiential side of poetry, rather than the manipulation of text or ironic philosophizing side. She read selections from each of the 3 sections of her book, Infinite Beginnings, the 2007 Poetry Book Award from Bright Hill Press, but just published this year. The first section was about the people & the village she came from in Poland. The second section was about her grandmother's, Paulina, experiences in World War II; the third section her more recent experiences, including her husband's experience in the Serbo-Croatian war ("Landscape After the War"). Faced with the choice of buying one book, I bought hers.

I was pleased to see that this series was back, but it was nearly indistinguishable from the Yes, Reading! series which of late has been held at the Social Justice Center: same 2-poet format (no open mic), same audience, even one of the same reader (but different hosts).

But this was only Part 1 of the evening ...

Yes, Reading, November 7

Another in the continuing series, tonight solo-host Colie Collen introduced the 2 poets who both have new chapbooks out from Brave Men Press.

Chris Tonelli read from No Theater, which played on images from Japanese Noh Theater with images of masks, short poems (one page each) with one-word titles.

Janaka Stucky's Your Name is the Only Freedom, again, has mostly short, one page poems (but his titles are longer). He gets his images from the Nag Hammadi texts, vodka & the Hindu goddess Kali coming in at the end.

The chapbooks from Brave Men Press (variously Northampton & Boston) are very nicely produced with letterpress covers, crisp text, about 5 1/2" X roughly 6 3/4". Worth looking for.

At the Social Justice Center in Albany, NY.  Check out the series at http://yesreading.wordpress.com/

Static After the Storm, November 6

I had been invited to read by Dan Stalter, along with others from the Albany poetry scene, at this event put on by The Intangible Collective. It was a night of spoken word followed by Hip Hop sets from Brainstorm/Dustwun Productions & NYC MC's Fascious, Bamboo MC, & B-Nice, at Valentines on New Scotland Ave. in Albany, NY. I was there on a kind of rushed night for me & the place was already packed when I arrived, clearly the oldest guy in the place.

Some of the younger poets from the Collective performed ensemble, with poems/lyrics memorized, like those talent shows on TV that are so popular (back even before my youth there was the "Ted Mack Amateur Hour" on radio). One thing I've noticed, & commented on this Blog previously, about hip-hop inspired spoken word is the tendency to preach, or harangue, typically using broad, abstract concepts like "oppression" & "pollution" (they like these female rhyme endings). I'm usually in agreement politically with these poets (I haven't heard any right-wing rappers yet), but I just don't respond well to preachers.

So when a couple of young guys are on stage telling me what's wrong with the world & what I need to do to change it, preaching, not doing poetry, I get rebellious, even when I agree. If it had all been worked up with images, & subtlety & not just rhyme & hammers I might have responded better. & it's not that I'm adverse to political poems, as anyone who knows my work can tell you ("sex, death & politics" are my 3 main themes -- what else is there?). So when it was my turn to read I scrapped the poem I had planned on reading & went for the first of those themes, snarky & sexist. I was rewarded by Mary Panza calling me a "bad boy." She, Don Levy, & Murrow were among the older poets who performed, including Miriam Axel-Lute, whose poem on refusing to be a quiet woman should have taught the crowd how to get your message across without finger-pointing & breaking in skulls. A few of the other poets gave good, poetic performances, including Shara Bender & Dan Stalter.

Earlier that day I had been reading an issue of American Poetry Review & found a short poem by Jane Hirshfield, "Returned from Long Travels." It is 15 short lines, unpunctuated, a bit more spare than her other work. There was also a short essay in APR's "The Poet on the Poem" series in which Hirshfield talked about this poem. In her essay, she describes traveling to Syria, Jordan, Israel, Ramallah, and Turkey, talking to young students about their lives in these difficult, war-torn places. The students told her she should tell people in the USA, "...that we are just like you, we want respect, we want to fall in love, we want to study. ... Tell them we are Syrians, not 'Arabs,' not terrorists. Tell them we are afraid..." Hirshfield then goes on to explain that the poem was written immediately after that trip, & she goes on to link the poem to her experience in the places she visited & the politics there.

Without the accompanying essay I would have no idea on reading the poem itself that there was any political content at all behind it. The poem, without the essay, is a failure as anything except self-indulgent poeticizing. The essay, which doesn't depend upon having read the poem, is an effective statement about the commonality & frailty of existence, & the struggle for Justice.

I'd rather the preaching was left in the churches, temples, whatever; it's easier for me to avoid it: I just don't go in. Same with the limp, precious poetry: leave it where I know I can avoid it. But poetry -- indeed, all Art -- can be effective in making meaningful statements about philosophy, religion, politics, any Big Idea, as well as being aesthetically pleasing. It doesn't have to be "either/or", rather, as I heard Anne Waldman say, it can be "both/both."