Third Thursday Poetry Night, August 21

The number 1 slot on the open mic signup sheet was still open as we were about to begin & at that moment the poet Sylvia Barnard was dropped off at the door — Sylvia likes to be number 1 so that she can relax & enjoy the other poets, so she filled I wrote her in to that empty slot immediately, but read 2nd because the next reader was about to read.

Kim Henry, 1st but had signed up 2nd, read a poem without a title, a result of a meditation on her past herself. Sylvia read a poem from a trip in July to the UK, “Southwark Cathedral” with an exhibit of peace doves, & an introduction on the cathedral's history. Sally Rhoades, a dancer, read a poem on dance, “They Got So Loose I Could Fly.” 

Amanda said that she had read here previously & was back, read a funny piece about talking with AI (Co-pilot) about problems at work. Thom Francis, the President of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, read “Birthday” about an aged woman blowing out the candles all alone. Mark O’Brian read another of his “location” poems written as if a newspaper article, this one, “Hannibal,” a Western NY town.

The featured reader this night was Judith Kerman. She began, & continued, with poems that pretend to be, or are, definitions, from her book Definitions (Fomite Press); her first example was “Diaspora” in 9 small parts, images, obliquely, historically responding to the dictionary definition; this was followed by the witty, philosophical “Algorhythm.” Then she introduced her sung poems with “Star Nose Mole,” a midrash sung to notations in the Torah for singing the text. “Canned Soup” was a prose poem, a memoir & meditation on soup, then another song, her oldest, “Deepsea Diver Song,” & a newer song “Woodstove.” She finished with a couple poems, the new “Scoliosis,” on to another based on the Bible, “The Serpent,” “Why I Never Married,” & ended with another definition, “Israel” in 10 tiny parts.

After the break, we were back to the open mic. I read a poem from my series of true stories of the (first) Trump era, #59, recently revised, but originally published in 2019 in the anthology Speak Your Mind: Woody Guthrie Poets, edited by the late/great Dorothy Alexander. Edie Abrams read her poem “Hava Nagila” a series of questions to another poet about their poems. 

Sherell was new here, read a funny piece starting "That’s what I said… " in rhyme written in a parking lot about coming to this open mic tonight. David Gonsalves has been here many times, read a short piece pondering the meaning of the  light of “Fireflies”. 

This monthly reading by a local or regional poet, with an open mic for community writers, takes place each third Thursday of the month at 7:30PM at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY — your donations support poetry events in Albany & the work of the Social Justice Center.

Pine Hollow Arboretum Poetry Open Mic, August 15

Our host, Mark O’Brien, invoked the Muse, read Ed Hirsch’s poem “Days of 1968.”

For the 2nd time this season there were 2 featured poets. 1st up was Sherri Bedingfield. She read poems about her son (“The Front Seat”), her Dad (“Seedlings”), a couple poems about trees, an opossum, & one to her friend Tom for introducing her to beer. There was a political piece about the election (“After”), a wistful love poem, “Addiction, Summer Kiss,” even a piece of “speculative” sci-fi narrative about an invasion. She ended with “300 Poems,” a letter about herself directed to her younger self.

She was followed by Tom Nicotera, the "Tom" who introduced her to beer, & he obliged by reading a poem for Sherri, “Smack Dab in the Middle of the Suburbs.” He also read a poem about trees, a wild turkey, a great blue Heron, & taking care of Nature. Tom works in a town library & read his homage “The Library in Heaven,” which in many ways described the good libraries here on Earth, then one about aging, “I Have Learned How to Slow Down Time." Tom likes to include music in his reading & performed with his harmonica in “Blues for America” & with his Irish drum on “The Gun is the Spell.”

Even with 2 featured poets, there were still 14 poets on the open mic list. 1st up was Philomena Moriarty who read a poem to her recently gone sister, “Still Here,” the a poem of affirmation dancing on her tiptoes. Paul Amidon acknowledged the presence of Birthday Boy Joe Krausman (who did not sign up to read), then read a a humorous poem “Theologians” & a found poem, “No Money Down.” — Then we all sang “Happy Birthday” to Joe &, it seems, to a visitor here, Mary.

Alan Casline, the coordinator emeritus of this series, read some Arboretum poems (of course), & poems from his series on “Summergreen.” Tim Verhaegen read a dream poem about meeting again his deceased mother, then one, titled “Dig,” about his twin brother, also deceased. Dennis Sullivan read a poem he originally wrote in Spanish, the English version “The Day I Became a Poet.” David Gonsalves read about the images of a “Slow Burn,” then one titled “Heart Throb.”

Ann Stoney, who was new here, said that she also writes short fiction as well as poetry; she read a piece about a boy’s question, “What Will They Do When the Sky Burns Out,” another piece titled “Disappearing.” Scott was also new, read a short prose memoir, recently published, “Summer Job” about working in forestry. Frank Robinson read a political piece titled “Who Was that Masked Man?” about the ICE raids, drawing parallels to German fascism. 

Tom Bonville read a piece written as letter to his daughter, “With Love.” Edie Abrams read about rabbits & goats, “Mowing the Lawn & Other Considerations.” Sally Rhoades read an older poem that she said she hadn’t read our previously, an emotional piece about her Aunt Polly’s house, “Disassembling.”

Mark O’Brien read a memoir about working for a newspaper, “My Time in the Pen.” Tom Corrado brought the evening to a close with “Screen Dump #824” commenting on A.I. & dysfunctional systems, now & in the past.

This poetry reading with an open mic is held on the third Friday of the month at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, 34 Pine Hollow Road, Slingerlands, NY — 6:00PM sign up, 6:30PM start — your donation supports the Arboretum.

Paper Moon Poetry Reading & Open Mic, August 14

I’ve been meaning to get to this place when it was on 4th Street in Troy but it was always closed when I happened to be in Troy. Now it has moved to 6 Brunswick Road, still in Troy. It is a bookstore whose specialty of the house are zines. I’ve published poetry chapbooks since the early 1990s under the imprint A.P.D. (A Party Downtown, All Poets Die, etc.) so I’m very happy to see the return of these gritty ephemera.

This was one of their regular open mic nights, with a featured poet, tonight the longtime poetry trouble-maker & Vice President of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, Mary Panza. Of course I brought some of my own poems to read in the open mic. Eric, who introduced himself as “the idiot in charge,” was the host. 

Mary Panza has been around in the local poetry scene since Tom Nattell poured gasoline on a spark with the QE2 poetry open mic. But she surprised me by reading my poem “Where Were the Professors?” printed as a broadside in 1988. Then she dug as equally deep into her own zine history, including selections from her collaborations with Gina Grega, including Hair Buffet (with cover photo by me!), & Komic Kunts, both from Hair Pie X Press. But she left room for recent poems, “Unbridled,” & “Rules from my Mother’s Kitchen.” She ended with the brief ball cutter, “Hey Dipshit” also from a collaboration with Grega, Bite Me.

In the open mic, Isaiah, read about a memory of the smell of iron & motor oil, & a piece titled (ironically?) “Unspoken.” I followed with a couple pieces from my chapbook Coyote: Poems of Suburban Living (A.P.D., 2015). Samuel Maurice recited from memory 2 poems, “Ariadne” & “What You See” (which he said was “against confessionals”) from his recently reissued book Vibrant Sounds, Colors in Motion (Deadman’s Press Ink).

Melissa Anderson read 2 anti-war pieces in response to “internet ephemera,” one with the intriguing line “Hell, & where is the hand-basket?” Anna Boughtwood read 2 short pieces, “Emergency Contact” & the colorfully titled “My Attachment Style is Cranberry.” Graydon Bush talked about reading “regression fantasies” & read a piece in that vein on the heat death of the Solar System,”The Young Master.”

Juni began with a piece titled “Pill Bottle Pavement,” then a piece in the form of a letter, an autistic person’s response to RFK. Caitlin (or Kaitlin?, I didn’t get a look at the signup sheet for her spelling), read from a hardbound blank book an intricate rant against someone based on sounds & word play. Julian Power began with a piece titled “Reading Comprehension” about how he never learned to read but does knows music, specifically Franz List.

Nancy Klepsch, the host of 2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, read the satirical piece “The Women from Long Island, The Queer Version” published in Trailer Park Quarterly, then “Pizza.” Gripp said he had driven over from Bennington, read about an encounter with a guy outside a bar, & another playing on the term “cold readings.” Eric, our host, was back to read as the last reader, a poem about being a writer, “Fuck Me in the Face I’m Charles Bukowski,” then a long stream of consciousness on art & experiencing emotions.

Paper Moon, 6 Brunswick Rd., Troy hosts poetry open mics every 2nd & 4th Thursday of the month, 6:00pm sign-up, 7:00pm start.  

2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose, August 10

Continuing on at Collar Works on 4th St. (Positively!) in Troy. Me & my co-host Nancy Klepsch.

Since we were within the cusp of the 80th anniversary of the 1st use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima & Nagasaki Japan in 1945, I read my tongue-in-cheek poem on the issue “Nukes for Piece.” Nancy Dunlop made a rare appearance at an open mic to read 2 poems about houses, “Paradise” (about a conflict with a neighbor), & “The End of the House.”

Frequent flyer here Joel Best read “Equilateral” in both the present & in the past.

Nicky Vegas read his humorous poem about the house, “Mousey” about a rodent invasion. Karen Fabiane was back to read her poems, “See Ya in the Funny Papers” conflating a performer & Greek heroes, then a parody of poetry “Guidelines” (i.e., no cat poets, no working class poems, no buses, no subways …)

My co-host Nancy Klepsch read about the outrageous $9.00 cookies in her poem “His Chocolate Cookies,” then the commentary “Local Poet.” David Gonsalves read 2 poems about mothers in one way or another, “Opt Ed” & “Heart Throb.” Carol Durant began with a break-up poem, “We’re Broken” then a poem in rhyme “Hockey Fans” (!) about the team the Adirondack Thunder.

A “new” voice/face, Graydon Bush, brought us all home with 2 rhyming poems, “Song of the Soul Sucking Sycamore,” & the fantastical “The Myth of the Musical Mamba” — hope to hear more of us work in the future. [3457]

2nd Sunday @ 2: Poetry + Prose happens at Collar Works, 50 4th St., Troy, NY on — well, see the name of the series — Free. Bring work to share.

Caffè Lena Poetry, August 6

In spite of the last-minute cancellation of the featured poet scheduled for this night, the open mic went on for the eager local poets who did show up to read. The host, Carol Graser, began by reading a love poem titled “Equinox.” But because there was no feature, she opened up the rules allowing 3 short poems.

Catherine Clarke read poems from her chapbook manuscript, one about April titled “Eclipse” then a poem she was asked to write by a neighbor, “King Road Spring.” David Graham read a couple of short poems, the 1st his own, “Upstairs Downstairs,” then one by Ron Pagdett “Words from the Front.”

I went next with a couple poems for today’s moment in history, first Tom Nattell’s “Hiroshima,” then my own “Poem for August 6.” 

Naomi Bindman showed up with her service dog (who did not take the stage with her) & she read a poem, “Stopping Time,” to her former dog, followed by an end-of-love poem, “You Used to Bring Me Flowers,” & ended happily with “About Hope.”

Mary Panza was my chauffeur for the night coming to Saratoga Springs & had put together an entourage of her ladies friends to see her friend Nick Bisanz play guitar backup for the cancelled poet, which, alas, was not to be. But we came for the open mic anyways & Mary read a poem about you marrying you, “Unbridled,” then instructions on Italian cooking, “Rules for My Mother’s Kitchen.”

A regular here, Leslie Sittner, began with the sad “Untitled Memory,” then a poem about an outdoor shower, “Full Buck Moon,” & ended with a dog poem. Randee Renzi is a veteran of the open mic scene in Albany & began with a poem for the Sun, “Unexcused Absences,” then an older poem,”The End of the Line,” about the birth of her son.

A.C. Everson was one of the folks in our entourage from Albany & read an older poem about the gone Albany poet, Tom Nattell, “Remembering Tom,” then a recent poem “Long Shadows.” 

Diana Steenberg, another member of our entourage & a 1st time reader here at Caffè Lena, read a piece in rhyme based on a true story “The Mermaid of Thompkins Lake,” then “The Fallen” (we are fallen angels).

Michael Walterish with a poem about teaching, “Time Beings What They Are,” then one about a poetry dinner party, “Essential Ingredient.” Pat Curtis read a dream poem in rhyme, “The Night I Punched the President at Caffê Lena.” Joseph Bruchac is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Saratoga Springs & long-time community poet; tonight he read a variety of pieces, a poem by the Japanese poet Issa that he had translated, his own poems “Thinking of Rilke Near Sunset,” & an old poem about the importance to listening to our grandparents.

Our host, Carol Graser, read an old Summer poem about being at Great Escape with her child, relating the water slide to giving birth. Sally Rhoades began with a poem for her grandkids, “Take Grandma’s Hands,” then her poem about the Lunar eclipse “Stopping By for the Eclipse” from her book Taking Time (The Troy Book Makers, 2025).

Rodney Parrott read a couple pieces, his “lost poem…” & one floating in air. Then Lee brought the night to a downer ending with 2 depressing poems, “The Bright Side of Life” in which he dreamed of dying from carbon monoxide poisoning, & a rhyming piece about being in the hospital after being hit by a truck.

<i>Caffè Lena Poetry</i> is on the 1st Wednesday of each month, featured poet at 7:00PM, followed by an open mic for community writers; signup starts at 6:30PM, $5.00 admission, free for students.  

Poets in the Park — 2025

This year’s Poets in the Park included 3 session held on July 12, 19, & 26. 

July 12 — Winners of the Tom Nattell Peace Poetry Prize & Tribute to Tom Nattell

Albany poet & activist Tom Nattell started Poets in the Park in 1989, a reading series in Albany’s Washington Park at the Robert Burns statue, in which he featured local & regional poets as a way to showcase the poetry talent in the area. When he was dying of cancer in the Fall of 2004 he asked me to continue the series after he was gone. He also wanted to establish a fund that would provide a cash prize to student poets at Albany High School. When Tom was a student at AHS he won $50 for poem he had written; he said that encouraged him to continue to write poetry — not that he became rich by writing poetry. But he was responsible for being instrumental in establishing the poetry scene that thrives to now.

Each year on the last Monday in January, on the anniversary of Tom's death, poets of Albany gather at the Robert Burns statue in Washington Park (where we should have been this day) for the Tom Nattell Memorial Beret Toss.

This day there had been early dire weather predictions of severe thunderstorms so I moved the reading to our rain site, the Albany Social Justice Center on Central Ave. Fortunately the storms did not materialize here, but it caused some confusion for folks who planned to attend the reading in the Park.

 

This year there were 2 AHS student winners of the Tom Nattell Poetry Prize. Both were invited to read their winning poems at Poets in the Park. Rose Madden who won for her poem titled “Heart Untouched“ was not available to read her winning poem so I did the honors of reading her poem for her. 

The other winner was Matilda Gish who read her impassioned poem of resistance, “Society,”  her message to be who you are, don’t follow Society; she followed with the 1st poem she wrote when she began writing, “Autism,” her friend & her foe — powerful writing from a young poet.

I talked about Tom’s legacy & his huge footprint on our community, then read my elegy, “Chasing Tom.”  watch for notices in January about the exact time.

July 19 — David Graham & Alyssa Michelle

This evening we were back at the Robert Burns statue in Washington Park.

David Graham is a poet from the North Country who frequently reads at venues in Saratoga Springs. His book The Honey of Earth came out in 2019 from Terrapin Books, but first he read a poem by the Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer (1931 - 2015), “Allegro” translated by Robert Bly, about the poet playing Haydn on the piano, keeping the ruins of the World at bay. 

David read 3 poems from his book, the first titled “As the Sun Says” was inspired by the ivory bill woodpecker, then a poem of childhood memory “Listening for Your Name,” & “Homage to Sadie Bosheers,” about a clothing inspector whose name he found in a new shirt. On to newer poems, a string of short poems, “Strong Recovery Suite,” “St. Patrick’s Day & Beyond” & a poetic exercise to write about a big abstraction (love) without mentioning what the word, “What It Is Like.”

I recall seeing the poet Alyssa Michelle a number of times at past Slam venues in Albany, such as The Low Beat on Central Ave., her personal, self-affirming poems well-performed. She says that her poetic themes include the lessons she’s learned throughout life, her experiences as a single mother, self-empowerment, and romance & indeed that was exactly what she offered up this evening.

She began with a recent poem that she had written for another event that she came from before this, “Ode to the Reformed Single Mother,” then on to selections from her 3 self-published collections. From her 1st book, Growing Pains, the poems “Her Love,” a sexy fantasy of romance “Sweet Dreams,” & a poem for her daughter’s father who died unexpectedly. Her 2nd book, The Awakening, chronicles the successfully met  challenge of a 20 day poem-a-day experiment, that opened up realizations about herself, including “The Mis-education of the Introvert” (a recurring theme), “The Healing,” “Wanderlust,” “Widow Mother,” & “Lessons. The most recent book In the Blooming Season continues in similar veins, with “Quiet Woman,” “Affirmation” & “Breaking Cycles,” which seemed to sum up the message of her poems.

July 26 —JTDAPoet & Jessica Femiani

Again we were blessed with pleasant weather for a Summer evening in the Washington Park, not to mention 2 fine poets, one local (Josh), the other from Binghamton (Jessica).

The poet now using the handle “JTDAPoet” started coming to open mics a few years ago, signing up as “Josh the Poet.” However, there seems to be someone else on Facebook who has been using that moniker, so Josh had to find another way to identify himself in the poetry performance world. 

He began by announcing that he has a new book coming out soon. Many of his poems were short, many on the theme of self-affirmation, others with broad statements of personal advice, such as “Queen of Strength” to a singer battling self-doubt. There was a tender letter to a brother who died last year titled “If You Was Here,” another titled “Guardian Angels” also written as a letter. There were love poems & break-up poems & a poem of hope for others, “Black Life.” 

I did not know Jessica Femiani or her poetry until she came with a recommendation from Melissa Tuckey who had read in Poets in the Park in 2018. Her chapbook-length poem, American Gun, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2024. She began her reading with the first 5 (of 10) parts of the poem, written during the pandemic, weaving in stories of her immigrant grandparents, her growing up in a working class family in Corona, Queens, with the Sandy Hook shootings, & gun culture. 

She filled out her program with more familial poems & noted that she was wearing her grandmother’s dress for this reading. There was an emotional poem “Plastic Peppers” about her grandparents home under dust, & one titled “Desire,” about rearranging her bedroom during a pending breakup. She ended with another political poem, a grim, violent piece, now re-titled as “On the Edge of the Fascist Takeover of America” with a litany of names from the news mixed in with a childhood memory of immigrant neighbors. 

Another season of Poets in the Park in the books. We hope to be back in Washington Park next Summer for more. But there is plenty of poetry to fill up your weeks while the Earth takes another turn around the Sun. Until then, as Tom Nattell used to say, “May the Muse be with you!”

Pine Hollow Arboretum Open Mic, July 18

Mark O’Brien is the able host for this series. This evening he started us off by reading a poem from January 1982 by David Gonsalves (who was also on the sign up list) titled “Pink Blanket,” then introduced the featured poets, Edie Abrams & Sarah Hacker.

For their opening they each read their responses from a workshop held by Susan Comninos to the poem by Gerald Stern, “Behaving Like a Jew,” which centered around a deep opossum; Edie’s response was a back-story about hunting & making a stew, while Sarah’s response was titled “Carpenter Ants.” Then they each read a set of poems.

Edie Abrams, who is frequently in attendance here, began, appropriately enough, with “It’s Too Damn Hot,” then an attack poem, “The Singular Man,” followed by a piece on a recent surgery, a poem about seeing a movie about penguins, & “Next Time” about wanting to be reborn as a cat.

Sarah Hacker’s work was new to me. She said she works as an editor for Conservationist Magazine, published by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, & that she has 2 children, both of which topics were reflected in her poetry. Her poems were short. She began with a poem about trout stocking in the Adirondacks, “Catch & Release,” then one on the imbalance in child-rearing “The Lioness,” others titled “Early Riser,” “Shape Shifter,” “Secret,” & she ended with an attempt at making an ordinary object sound exotic, “Kitchen Mop.” It’s always a good thing to add new voices to our poetic community.

A short break, then on to the open mic with a band of regulars. Paul Amidon led off with “Forty-Four Forth Street” from his latest book, Late in the Season (The Troy Book Makers, 2025), then a new poem recalling his time in Viet Nam “Tudor St. Shout Out.” I followed with an old poem that reflects how bad the political situation has always been, “I Thought I Saw Elvis.”

Mike Burke was back in town & he began with a poem by Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1875) “Young and Old” (that Paul Amidon recited along with from the audience), then Mike’s own “New Years Eve” about a character that was dead, not drunk. Tom Bonville followed with a similar-themed piece titled “Family History,” about his father listening to baseball at night & dead the next morning. David Gonsalves’ poem “Show & Tell” was about the things that he’s been reading about.

The handwriting for the names of the next 2 poets seemed to Mark to be the same as the distinctive handwriting for Dennis Sullivan, & indeed Dennis had signed up first as Arthur Willis & read a piece written by Willis in Moscow in 1989, then as Howard Kogan, Dennis read  Howard’s poem, “The Poet” as much about baseball & God in the streets as anything else.

Joe Krausman’s short piece was titled “Four.” Then Dennis returned as himself. Dennis Sullivan reappeared as himself & talked about Arthur Rimbaud & Allen Ginsberg writing poems on booze & drugs & read his own poem from February 2017 written on pot, “Le Bateau De Beuh” (otherwise known as the Weed Boat).

Julie Lomoe read again her recent poem “Forsaken Beach” where no one seems to go, & a poem about another place no one seems to go, Opus 40, conflating it with her well-documented subdural hematoma, “Death by Blue Stone.” Her husband, Robb Smith, followed with a Senryu on aging, quoting the Dalai Lama.

Co-founder of this reading series, & former host, Alan Casline, read a couple poems on Nature & aging, “View from Later” & “What Olden Rivers Said,” then reprised a poem from Trump’s first term, “Sammy the Squirrel Gives a Stump Speech.” Tom Corrado read “Screen Dump #825 on memory, bouncing images, re-winding tape, magic words & paper plates.

Our host, Mark O’Brien, brought the evening to a close with one of his re-written historical documents, this an obituary of Johnny “Nig” Grabowski, a catcher for the White Sox & for the Yankees in the 1920s, who died in a fire in 1946 at his home in Guilderland.

This series at the Pine Hollow Arboretum features a poet (or poets), with an open mic, on the third Friday of the month from May thru October, sign up at 6:00PM, start at 6:30PM. Pine Hollow Arboretum is located at 34 Pine Hollow Rd., Slingerlands, NY — ask your GPS Lady for directions.