2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, December 11

A snowy afternoon, but it was early & we all know how to drive in this, right? No problems getting from Albany, thru Troy to Collar City Mushrooms, & by the time we were done, 2nd Avenue & I-787 had been plowed & I was home again. There were 5 of us for the open mic.

First on the sign-up sheet was Kate Crofton, over from Albany, who read 1 extended piece, “Store #224,” apologies to a lover while shopping in the Summer at Price Chopper on Central Ave.

Alexander Perez was here for the 1st time, also from Albany, began with a poem in the persona of a spider, “The Spinster,” then another with images of insects, bees, “On Bitterness,” then ended with “On War.”

Tim Verhaegen, who has been here often, read an essay about working for the State of New York for 30 years, & the endless meetings interrupted by meetings, “The New York State Division of Blah-Blah-Blah.”

I was the host for the open mic, as my co-host, Nancy Klepsch, hunkered down at home during the storm. I read, as I like to do each Xmas Holiday Season, Enid Dame’s (1943 - 2003) moving “Holiday Poem” with it’s stunning ending, “… we don’t need the solace of bought objects. We need each other’s light.”

The proprietor of Collar City Mushrooms, Avery Stempel, began with a poem about crows in Troy mocking him, then moved to images of Albany from the past, “A Trojan Reflects,” then brought us on home with a poem titled “Finding the Globe” captured by the song “The Last Dragon.”

& so that was the last of the year’s open mics at Collar City Mushrooms, but we plan to be back in 2023 each 2nd Sunday @ 2PM — bring your poetry &/or prose & read among the mushrooms. Happy New Year!

Invocation of the Muse, December 5

Our host R.M. Engelhardt introduced this night of poetry by invoking the “Muse,” a not-dead-yet poet from Canada, Ryan Quinn Flanagan, you can find some of his poems at his website 

Then on to also living poets in the room who had signed up for the open mic, with me being first, to pay tribute to a recently-dead poet, Bernadette Mayer (1945 - 2022); at many open mics I’ve heard poets introduce a poem by saying, “I wrote this in a poetry workshop with Bernadette Mayer,” & I had my chance this night to say the same thing before reading 2 poems inspired by being in a couple of workshops with Bernadette, “Saturday Hawk” & “Triple Time Jacket” (inspired by Ravel’s Bolero).

Catlin Conlon was new to me; she read “3 Vignettes on Loss” about her mother who she is “mother of,” & a piece titled “Buffalo, New York 2022.” Sierra DeMulder was also new to me, always interested in new voices, new faces; she read a piece about reading Mary Oliver’s poems to her grandmother in hospice, then one about regretting her wedding vows, & what she should have said.

Tonight’s featured poet was Thom Francis, who has a long history in the Albany poetry scene, dating back when he was a high school student reading in the open mics at Border’s in Colonie Center in the mid-1990s. He has been a host of open mics & Slams at various venues in town, was one of the founding members, & President, of Albany Poets, until its merger with the Hudson Valley Writers Guild where he is currently co-President. His skills as an “IT guy” web designer created the invaluable events calendar & dynamic website we all depend upon (hvwg.org) to find out who is reading where. 

He began his reading with a new piece, “Being,” about his head now cleared, then went back to a piece from the past, “Shower,” another recent one written yesterday in Stewarts, “Glazed,” on being sober & it’s struggle,  on a similar theme “I Used to Drink at this Bar on the Corner,” & “Rust in Hope.” Then on to older poems about his parents, about his father living nearby but might as well "be on another planet," & about his mother, “Listerine.” His love poem “Dirt” was about working in a garden, & he ended with the notebook jottings he titles “Time.”

After a short break we returned to the open mic list. Archie Marker said it was his first poetry open mic, read a couple of Limericks on Halloween, & other pieces, “The Modern Performer,” “and You Don’t Understand,” & “Change Your Religion.”

Our host R.M. Engelhardt read poems from his recent poetry books, from the more recent We Rise Like Smoke, published in July, 2021, & from Where There Is No Vision: Poem 2020, from June, 2020, both available from Amazon.

The next poet signed up as “Dan W.” but it wasn’t me, I had already read.; he has read here in the past, tonight, a piece titled “Haiku” (but it didn’t sound like a Haiku), & one titled “Let Go.”

The final poet of the night, Sandra D., read a piece I think was untitled about music playing through the rain drops, & another untitled drug poem.

Invocation of the Muse takes place (usually) on the 1st Monday of the month, but is sometimes moved to another Monday due to a holiday), 7:30 sign-up/8:00PM start, at Lark Hall, on the corner of Lark St. & Hudson Ave., enter on Hudson Ave.

Third Thursday Poetry Night: Jan Tramontano, November 17

Things are looking good at the Social Justice Center: the ceiling is up, but there is still more work to be done. Tonight’s featured poet was Jan Tramontano whose new book The Me I Was With You was published by Finishing Line Press late last year. 

Before we got to the poets here, I invoked the night’s muse, the gone poet Wendy Battin (1953 - 2015). I had met Wendy briefly at a poetry festival in Connecticut in June 2009 & my notes indicate I was impressed by the poems I heard. I heard 6 years later that she had died, but could only find a few of her poems online. In September of this year I was browsing in Dogtown Books inn Gloucester & discovered a posthumously published book collecting her poems, some of her essays, & essays & photos about her by folks who knew her. Tonight I read her poem “At Tanglewood” to bless our night of poetry.

Rachel Baum just started writing poetry about 2 years ago, & responding to the poem by Wendy Battin that I just read, read her own poem “Summer Concert,” descriptive & meditative. Joe Krausman (once called "a flinty elf") is habitually here & tonight read a poem in the persona of a wife of a gambler, in rhyme. Sylvia Barnard is another habitual reader here on the third Thursday, read a recently written poem, “First Snow,” as it looked at 3AM, also in rhyme. 

Jan Tramontano reminded me that she & I first met when I ran the Third Thursday Poetry Night at Cafe Web on Madison Ave. back in the late 1990s. A few years ago she & her husband Ron moved to Florida, but recently they moved back to this area & we are all the better for it. She began with poems from her most recent poetry collection, The Me I Was With You (Finishing Line Press, 2021), starting with the self-portrait, “Woman in a Poppy Dress,” then to a memoir of her father, “Undertow,” then one about her mother in the nursing home, “Solar Eclipse,” & “My Mother’s Silk Scarf.” 

Jan talked briefly about her novel re-titled We’ve Come Undone (formerly What Love Becomes), & her legal struggles with the original publisher, then read a short segment from the main character’s Blog, about the poetic form Landay used by women in Afghanistan & Pakistan (see  I Am the Beggar of the World: Landays from Contemporary Afghanistan (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2014).

Then on to a bouquet of new poems, “The Guiding Light,” a childhood memory of her immigrant grandmother watching the soap opera; “Mimosas At the Open Air Cafe,” memories of her father; a couple poems about her recently deceased mother, “Without Her,” & “What Do We Know About Grief?” She finished with poems about herself, “Grandma’s twins: Early Days,” pondering their birth & their future; a list poem, after attending an art class “What I Learned in Art Class;” & “Home,” comparing hearing frogs croak in Florida to bird songs back here in the northeast where she is back home.

After a short break for Jan to sell & sign books, we returned to the open mic & I read my poem for Wendy Battin, “A Ghost,” inspired by her poems in Wendy Battin: on the Life & Work of an American Master (Unsung Masters Series, 2020). Another frequent reader here is Josh-the-Poet who tonight read a new poem titled “Unexpected Love” which is really already inside of you. Marylou Streznewski (who will be the featured poet in March, 2023) talked about the recent Autumn, & likes October, read the richly descriptive “A Day In October,” dreaming in color. 

Sara Wiest was our last reader of the night, & she read part of a many-year project of poems about Demeter & Persephone “Demeter in Autumn.” 

Join us each Third Thursday of the month at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY at 7:30PM for a featured reader & an open mic for the rest of us, your generous donation supports the featured reader, poetry events in the area, & the fine work of the Social Justice Center.

Hudson Valley Writers Guild Annual Meeting: Poetry Contest Winners’ Reading, November 12

The genre for the 2022 HVWG writing contest was poetry & at the annual meeting most of the winners were there to read their winning poems. Interestingly enough all the winners this year were women writers; I haven’t done a “scientific” study of this trend, but it does seem to me, based as poetry collections published in the last few years, more women than men poets are publishing their work, perhaps making up for lost time.

The first group of readers were the those who had scored “Honorable Mentions.” First reader was Cathy Lautenbach, who had read at open mics in Albany & Schenectady back in the mid-1990s & early 2000s. She had moved & earned an MFA in writing in New Orleans, & recently returned to the Capital Region; her first poem, which sounded like a pantoum, was for NOLA; she also read a fascinating piece that she described as an ode to libraries titled “From What I’ve Read About Surviving,” filled with trees, stillness alone, even sailors carrying books. Another piece was titled “A Sermon at the Park,” then her honorable mention poem “Sonnet Before Dying.”

Laura Henebry confessed that this was the first time she has read her work in public. She began with her honorable mention poem “My Mother Tells Me Jesus Saves While Sipping Lemonade,” then a poem about depression & boredom, & another on a relationship gone bad. Perhaps she’ll be motivated to come out to some of the local open mic venues & read more of her poems.

Krisanna Scheiter is an Associate Professor at Union College. She also began with her poem that earned an Honorable Mention, “German Girl,” about the experiences of her grandmother who escaped Germany just before World War II. Other poems she read were “Vignettes of Trauma & Recovery” in multiple parts, then a poem titled “The Prayer,” & a new work-in-progress “This Place Was Not Built for Us.”

Phyllis Hillinger also won an honorable mention but was unable to attend the event so HVWG President Faith S. Green read Phyllis’ poem “Low Tide at Solana Beach.” 

At this point we took a break & had an opportunity to talk with some of the poets. Then on to the main prize winners. 

The 3rd Prize went to Caroline Grondahl for her work “A Poem about Credit Card Debt,” which I heard her read at the NYS Writers Institute Book Festival reading in September. Caroline could not be here for this so her poem was read by HVWG Co-Vice President Mary Panza.

2nd Prize was awarded to Nancy Klepsch for her poem “My Mother was Effortlessly Cool” that I have also heard at local readings, perhaps at the 2nd Sunday @2 Open Mic (at Collar City Mushrooms in Troy) that Nancy co-hosts with me each month. She also read today poem like a blue symphony beginning “Blue is a hard color…” then a tender, descriptive poem “Ocean Lover.”

The 1st Prize winner was Columbia County poet & artist Margaret McDermott who began with her winning poem with the marvelous title “Wading in Cloud Pools.” Other poems she read were “Bones,” “Questions for the Troll” about a homeless person & a dog living under a bridge, then “Proximity” which also included a dog.

It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon, how could it not include imaginative & engaging poetry since they were all Prize-winners? You can find more information about this year’s winners, & past contests at www.hvwg.org — & check back for information about the 2023 writing contest.

2nd Tuesday All-Genre Open Mic Out of Bennington, November 8

This, too, has become a regular on my poetry calendar, especially because I can stay home — it’s on Zoom. The host is Charlie Rossiter out-of-Bennington, who likes to do 2 rounds of 1 poem each.

Charlie put me 1st on his sign-up sheet & since we were close enough to Halloween I read 2 poems on that theme, in the first round a ghost poem, “Photo at the QE2, 1991,” then for the 2nd time around “Witches in my Attic.”

Sally Rhoades began with a poem written this Summer at a Provincetown workshop originated by the late Stanley Kunitz “Nonpareil for my Father;” in the 2nd round a piece written during the pandemic “No School Buses.” 

Kenn Ash’s 1st piece titled “Parallel Presence” was an eco-poem on bat guano; in his 2nd round a new, political piece “Single-Minded.” 

Bridget read 2 short poems from her series “Out of the Corner of My Eye” one on the flight of crows, & one about the secrets under the leaves; later a piece titled “Almost Americana” inspired by a Yelp review. 

Charlie, our host, in the 1st round read “Thanksgiving Letter” about the perfect turkey; in the 2nd round notes from the news during the Trump era salvaged from the old notebooks.

Julie Lomoe’s 1st round piece was titled “My Womb Dome” a long, rambling prose memoir of her involvement in the early women’s movement in NYC; then later, “Gin on the Rocks” from her series about the time she fell (did you know she had a sub-dural hematoma a few years ago?).

Tom Nicotera battled computer issues again, but was able to read the descriptive “Take Out“, then later, at the end, a piece beginning “we are all ghosts here” on aging & death.

But for now we ghosts remain above ground & hopefully will be back for the next 2nd Wednesday all-genre open mic out of Bennington (Vermont, that is). If you haven’t joined us & want to be “here,” email Charlie at charliemrossiter@gmail.com & ask for the link.

Invocation of the Muse, November 7

It’s been a year since R.M. Engelhardt started this new poetry series in Albany over at the Fuze Box. He still does a “Goth Night” there on a Friday night each month, but the poetry is now at Lark Hall on the 1st Monday of the month. Tonight he read one of his own poems (he was the night’s Muse?!?) his Stevie Nicks hat too big, to get us started “Bad Omens, Monday, November 14, 2022, the Year of the Asshole.”

Since I was up next, I wondered if he was referring to me — anyways, I read poems of ghosts & witches, the ghost poem “Photo at the QE2, 1991,” then the witch poem, “Witches in the Attic.” Josh-the-Poet followed with 3 very short love poems, “Calling You to the Moon,” one about being attached, & “If Love Was Easy.” Daniel W. (who was not me) read a string of Haiku, with titles like “Inconvenience,” & “Gentle, Not Kind.” The next poet signed up as “UNLOK (Gordon)," whatever that means, & performed from memory (or improvised on a theme) a long, oh-so-serious political piece titled “Stump Speech Part 2.”

Pat Williams has been showing up here in the last few months, & made his first appearance back in January when this series was at the Fuze Box. Rob introduced the feature tonight by highlighting Pat’s “sports poems.” Many of the poems he did read he has tried out here at previous open mics, including “The Trapped Beast,” “The Meat Grinder,” & a couple of villanelles. It seemed at times that he was parodying people’s images of what poets do, writing about “Nature & friendship,” often in short lines with erratic rhymes, but there didn’t seem to be any of the promised “sports poems.” I called out from the audience asking for a football poem, & he obliged with “Are You Ready for Some Football,” using language from broadcasters, with repeating lines. & at the end he read a plumber poem, “Drip,” for an eclectic mix of topics & inspiration.

After a short break, Rob was back “without further ado,” as he said, with the rest of the open mic list. Maurice, who is also a regular on the first Monday, read what he said was a revision of an earlier poem, the first part a description of a car crashing into a hydrant, then into a pensive reflection on a break-up.

The poet who signed up as “Irby Poetry” began with the teacher/preacher ploy to engage the congregation, “how are you feeling? Everybody OK?,” the recited a short piece on a toxic relationship. The next reader Shalom Harrison, had trouble reading her  poems, which were like notes towards poems, from her phone, one piece an engaging love poem about basking in the sunlight.

Rob’s poem “Nope” was like a barroom lecture on The Word, complete with the dubious description of poets as outcasts “with a higher I.Q.” — some do, some don’t. Austin Houston read early poems, “My Aunt’s Backyard” was dated in 2011 & was written as a school assignment, while “Neverland” was inspired by Peter Pan, whether book, movie or play he didn’t say.

Wil Lo was one of our bartenders tonight & came on stage to read a piece titled “The Juror” about being in court to support a friend for the verdict. John floats in & out of some the open mics with his poems on intriguing images, like “The Painting Room” & the extended metaphor of “Chess Freestyle.” Sandra D. ended this night of poetry with an auto-biographical, dysphoric limerick (of sorts), then a poem of angst against "the in-crowd."

Over the past year this open mic series has settled in as part of the monthly poetry calendar — 1st Monday, 7:30/8:00, at Lark Hall, corner of Lark St. & Hudson Ave., Albany, NY, enter on Hudson Ave. — open mic with a featured poet, $5.00.

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic, November 2

Back to Saratoga Springs again this month, a somewhat different night, giving fellow poet Joe Krausman a ride, we had dinner at Hattie’s before signing up for the open mic. The host of the open mic is Carol Graser who begins with a poem by some other poet, tonight she read Ada Limon’s “The Mountain Lion.”

The featured poet here starts on time & reads first because they are live-streamed on the Caffè Lena YouTube channel (which means you can use the link now to see this night’s reading by Susan Comninos). She read entirely from her recent book Out of Nowhere (Stephan F. Austin State University Press), not just poems but the 2 epigraphs as well. The reading seemed to not have been planned, but put together on-the-fly, at one point with only a few minutes left, she asked for audience input on themes to read. Her reading style suggested by the tone of her voice & pregnant pauses that many of the poems seemed to have ended before it was actually done, & I almost clapped a number of times at what would was only the middle of the poem. But you can check all this out online.

What is not online is the great variety of poets who read in the open mic portion (which is what poets need to do to practice & develop their onstage skills). First up was Mary Ann Rockwell (from the Saratoga Springs Public Library) who read W.S. Merwin’s grand poem “Thanks.” Michael Carroll read a poem that shared a title with a song by Donovan, “The Season of the Witch.” Pauline Boehm read a poem titled “Ennui” about Southern ladies & their mint juleps, then one that was a memory of wild horses. Todd Fabozzi read from what he said was his 4th book, finished this year (without telling us the title of the book), 2 rhyming pieces “All Days Turn to Night,” & “Emergence.” My traveling companion, Joe Krausman, responded to one of Susan Comninos’ themes with his poem in rhyme entitled “Gratitude.”

I hadn’t seen Mia Farrington here previously (but then I did miss some months in the Summer), she read a piece titled “Intimate Recap” a sort of introduction to who/what she is. Jan Tramontano has been a feature poet here, most recently in December 2021, her first poem tonight was one to her daughter, “Matryoshka Dolls,” then one titled “At the Nursing Home Window.” I read next, an anaphoric poem about Saratoga Springs that I’ve been adding to for months “Solevo.” 

I don’t easily have access to the sign-up sheet which Carol sweeps into her bag as she scurries out, so I can’t confirm the spelling of the names of the poets that she introduces; many I know from the past, or I simply resort to common spellings. The next poet was named Erin, or Aaron, who began with a colorfully descriptive piece about clouds, then, alternating from paper to his phone, read a sad love poem. Carol Graser read a piece on death titled “Mirror Nonet,” in a made-up form from, a favorite assignment at a Bernadette Mayer workshop for which Carol wrote the poem.

Fred Zieman (? spelling) read a descriptive piece about a town from his youth. Melissa Anderson has been showing up a lot at open mics recently, began with a short piece titled “How the Ancients Named the Seat of Passion,” then a piece inspired by a fragment from Marilyn Monroe’s poems, “Time Which Has Not Drowned Me Yet.”

E.R. Vogel is another new poet on the scene & read a philosophical, descriptive piece from his recently self-published chapbook Love Poems & Other Stuff. Rodney Parrott is a regular here at Caffè Lena, but still read 3 pieces (Carol said to read 2) from his series “Lucid Remembering.” Katherine Parker said she was reading a Haiku “string” but each section she read seemed too long to be either Japanese or American Haiku, so I’m not sure what it was she read but it was interesting lines.

Elaine Kenyon, who also has been reading regularly here, read an untitled piece of notes, descriptions of herself. Peggy said the piece she was reading, titled “Exiting Education,” about retiring, was unedited, uncorrected.” 

Cris Greco read here last month a noisy factory piece, this night read another poem about workers, a sociological poetic essay titled “ECR,” then a piece titled “The Last Man Standing.” Julie Lomoe who frequents lots of open mics read a piece from her ongoing memoir in-progress of her sub-dural hematoma “Gin on the Rocks.” 

I believe this is the only poetry open mic in Saratoga County, & has been for years. You can join it on the 1st Wednesday of any month at the historic Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St, Saratoga Springs, NY, — sign up for the open mic at 6:30PM, featured poet at 7:00PM. Or you can just watch the featured poet on the YouTube Channel.