March 17, 2024

Saratoga Senior Center Poetry/Storytelling Open Mic, March 8


I was pleased to be the featured poet at this new series, filling in for Judith Prest (who is much prettier) who will re re-scheduled. The host & coordinator is Saratoga poet Rachel R. Baum (who is also more pretty than I am). She opened the event by reading her poem to an ex, inspired by Taylor Swift “Roping the Scapegoat” (but in my notes the title could be “Raping the Scapegoat” which I think it is not).


I read for about 15 minutes, followed by an open mic. I began with a Haibun by the recently gone poet Stuart Bartow from his book of Haiku, one branch (Red Moon Press, 2019), a piece that I had read to the ocean at Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, MA after Stu’s death, then a poem by Judith Prest from Geography of Loss (Finishing Line Press, 2021) “Prayer for a Broken Land” a golden shovel eco-poem. Of my own work I read “Joe the Bartender,” 2 base all poems “Vamos Gatos” & “Waiting for Jacqueline Robinson” (both from Baseball Poems, A.P.D., 2019), then from my “poem cards” the imitation “Challenging Richard Brautigan,” a nod to Rachel’s recent chapbook from bottle cap press, Richard Brautigan’s Concussion.


I was happy to see poet Catherine Clark here, whom I first met many years ago at a NYS Writers Institute sponsored workshop with the late, great Irish poet John Montague. She read a couple poems from a poetry collection Oh Shining Moon, including the title poem, & the rural “King Road Spring Song.”

David Gonsalves, whom I see frequently down in Albany at other open mics, was up next; his first poem, titled “Honey & Thyme,” was an anaphoric repetition at the start of each line of the phrase “Consider the one…” then he also had a “Spring Song.”


Jay Rogoff, who had been the featured poet here last month, read an ekphrastic piece titled “Three Women” describing a painting by John Currin (from The Long Fault, Louisiana State University Press, 2008).


David Graham, who not only has been a featured poet at North Country poetry venues, including here, also shows up at open mics, in-person & online, said he stumbled on an old poem he barely remembered writing that fell into his series of graveyard poems, “Sounds Like Singing.”


Kathy Pelky (not sure of correct spelling) wanted to read a poem written by someone else, & she didn’t know their name, but it was a short poem the she carries around with her, containing the line, “one day I wrote a poem that was better than its author” — feel like that often myself.


Carol Shup Star, whom I remember seeing at the great Caffè Lena poetry open mic, read two visually bright poems, the first about morning glories, “Heavenly Blue,” the other titled “Moonlight Ashes.”


Rhonda Rosenheck, who also is out-&-about poet, began with a poem about craving peace “My Heart is in the East,” then a memoir piece, a combination of Haiku & tankas, “Massachusetts Past Life.” 


Julie Lomoe read a poem about her past life in NYC’s SoHo district, a piece for International Women’s Day, “Bela & the Rats.”

If you are available in the middle of the day this monthly open mic (with a featured reader) takes place on the 2nd Friday of the month (usually) at the Saratoga Senior Center, 290 West Ave,. Saratoga Springs, NY, at 1:00PM — check the events calendar on the website of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild for any changes. 

March 11, 2024

Invocation, March 4


As noted in the Blog on last month’s Invocation open mic, The Eleven, the bar/coffee house where this event is held, is now closed on Monday’s — unless on the 1st Monday when the open mic happens. The host, R.M. Engelhardt, announced at the start of the evening that they are looking to perhaps move to another night of the month. Although on this night not only were there a 9 poets signed up for the open mic, there were a few additional patrons at the bar drawn by the lights on & clearly something happening. 


Rob started off the night with readings of pieces from 2 writers, the first was from the recently published Nothing Ever Changes: Meditations by Ralph Lumpkin, from Dead Man’s Press Ink (the editors are R.M. Engelhardt & Samuel Maurice); Lumpkin styles himself as an “amateur philosopher”. The 2nd reading was a piece titled “Axiomatic” by British poet Peter Reading (1946 - 2011), whose work was described in his obituary on Guardian US as “slag-heap epitaphs lit by anger & wine.”


I’d signed up in the #2 slot but since no one signed up in the #1 slot, I was #1 (see how easy it is to be #1?), & read “Spathe is the Plathe” about the “Great American Eclipse” in August, 2017, & a poem titled “Missing Pieces” based on a painting by of Sun Ra by the late great painter of jazz scenes Wren Panzella.



Pat Williams
has been a frequent reader her at Invocation (& its previous iteration), with 2 poems, a “before & after” therapy sessions as he explained, “Have You Seen My Joy?” & an untitled dialogue beginning “Hey boy, how you been? …”


Pete Randazzo apparently was here at the urging of Pat Williams, & he confessed to being a poetry virgin, reading his work out for the 1st time; his first piece was a seasonal poem titled “Junco,” then a descriptive piece of Senior Night at the high school where he coaches wrestling & teaches Social Studies.


Austin Houston read a tender diptych of poems about his father who had been a coma (now recovered); the 1st titled “Your Time is Yet to Come” in which the poet imagines what his father is experiencing, the 2nd was in the voice of his father recounting what the coma was like, “My Meeting with Death.”


Samuel Maurice, Rob’s co-host, recited poems from memory, the first a play on wine & words, the 2nd one he has done previously, the urban tale of a car accident on his block titled “Zodiatical Hydrant.”


Maria Sohn, foreground; Charlene Shortslive sketching 

Maria Sohn
seems to have been lurking on the fringes of the open mic scene & tonight bravely stepped to the forefront to read 3 very short pieces, “Slap” her most recent poem, “Some Days” about worrying about her daughter’s flight to Las Vegas, & “Worst Pain” about comforting a friend at the wake for the friend’s son.

Our host R.M. Engelhardt read what he described as a “kind of an ode” titled “Doomsday Song,” then “Goals” which was a sort of list poem of things to do, with references to dead poets such as Ambrose Bierce & the more recently dead Jim Harrison — seems to me one of the things that needed to be on the list would be “quit smoking” to be able to live longer than Harrison did.


John Allen seem to like this venue & returned again to read from his 2nd book Lumiere, a series of vignettes about the poet Paul Celan, then a couple of surrealist poems by the “San Francisco Renaissance” poet Laurence Weisberg (1953 - 2003) from the chapbook Phantomatic, “She Wears the Face of the Hour” & “Grail.” 


The final poet of the night was the night’s 2nd virgin, Will Grady with a descriptive piece about being on a hike in the wilderness, inspired by the platitude “all who wander are not lost” (or, perhaps, "all who are lost are not wandering"). 


So, you will have to stay in touch with social media, or the listings on the website of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild to find out if this venue moves to another day of the month (now currently on the 1st Monday). 



March 1, 2024

Third Thursday Poetry Night, February 15

On a post-Valentines night there was a small, but intense group of poets gathered for the open mic & to listen to our featured poet Kathleen Ann Smith. But 1st I invoked the Muse for the night, sadly the recently gone North Country poet Stuart Bartow. Stu had been a featured poet here in October, 2017 & has published a number of poetry collections including Reasons to Hate the Sky (Word Tech Editions, 2008), & Green Midnight (Dos Madres Press, 2018) among others. I read from his Haiku collection one branch (Red Moon Press, 2019) the Haibun “Fable” that I had read recently to the ocean at Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, MA, to mark his passing, to which I had appended my Haiku (to Stu):


does it matter to

read poems of a dead poet in

bed or at the beach?


Then on to the open mic, with Philomena Moriarty up first, with poems relating to her practice as a therapist, “Baggage” about the stuff from the past, quoting James Baldwin, then her newest poem “My Mind is Looking for a Problem.”


David Gonsalves confessed that “I don’t know what it is yet” to describe his humorous piece about trying to write what he thought might be a sonnet but ended up too long.


Elaine Kenyon was back this month to read the 2 poems she should have read last month, Stu Bartow’s poem “Lust” from his collection Green Midnight, then her piece “Inspired by 'Lust',” her poem imagining visiting him, but now he is gone, a tender poem of appreciation.


In honor of Valentines Day, I read a couple old love/lust poems, “On a Poem by e.e. cummings” (with a dash of Robert Desnos), then a shorter piece “Gods.”


The night’s featured poet Kathleen Anne Smith read from her book Let the Stones Grow Soft (The Troy Book Makers, 2023). Many of her poems were looks back to earlier time, not so much as nostalgia but to contemplate the images & lessons of the past. She began with a poem titled “What the Old Lady found in the Shoebox,” the a poem where her cat interrupts her painting, & she remembers an old lover (“Green Tee”), & the sad love poem “Sargasso Sea, Sunset.” Then a series of melancholy poems on lost loves, “Among the Leftover Women,” “After our divorce, at our nephew’s wedding, I’ve lost the notebook …” the title serving as first line of the poem, “To Heathcliff, on Finding your Photograph, after Half a Century,” “Before and After the End,” & the vividly descriptive “I Revisit My Childhood Home with an Imagined Grandchild.” She ended with a couple of poems with a more recent focus, “Midnight, after the October Hurricane,” & “2021, Remembered in December” taking stock of the year. There are plenty more of her poems in Let the Stones Grow Soft to savor over time.

This reading series that always includes an open mic, as well as a local or regional featured poet, takes place each third Thursday of the month at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY, starting at 7:30PM. Your donation helps support poetry programming in Albany & the work of the Social Justice Center.





 

February 19, 2024

All Genre Open Mic out of Bennington, February 13

Charlie Rossiter, our host & Zoom master, started us off with his traditional “Welcome Rant,” that he has used at a variety of open mics over the years — & “the mic is now Open!” Charlie likes doing 2 rounds of supposedly 1 poem each so that's what we did. 


Surprise, I was first up on the sign-up sheet; in the 1st round I read my celebration of sitting in bars for the last 60 years, “Birthday Poem 2024.” 

Later, in the 2nd round, in a nod to the pending Valentines Day I read an old love poem, “Morning Key.”


Mark O’Brien dialed in from his attic, & in the 1st round showed an old photo of himself in the window an Amtrak train, his memoir poem responding to a prompt.

In his 2nd round piece Elvis appeared as a “psychopomp” (a spirit guide to the place of the dead), in a poem like a prayer. 


Bill Thwing began with a poem from the Japanese Haiku master Basho, then read the Japanese commentary & one of his own, & some translations from others. He brought out his guitar for the 2nd round, said he written song 25 songs written this month (!) & sang his new song, a dance piece “Mix it Up.”

Sherri Bedingfield read poems in both rounds from a 2016 collection of narrative poems she wrote of events in Scotland “Isabelle & Ann Early On,” & “Isabelle Entranced,” talking to her child. 


Julie Lomoe read a piece written last month, responding to a prompt about roads for a “Mike Jurkovic” open mic, but I think she meant Michael Czarnecki, her poem a visual piece “My Long & Riding Road Map” & thinking about ways to die.

In her 2nd round another responding to Czarnecki’s open mic, “Gratitude Poem the Day After Xmas,” a list poem.


Naomi Bindman’s 1st round poem, “Eating Flowers on a Winter Morning,” was a sensuous piece about tasting honey on the rim of her cup. 

Her 2nd round poem was one I’d heard her read previously, & the kind of poem I could hear again & again, about a gift of tulips from a friend, “No Small Thing.”  


Our host Charlie Rossiter in his 1st round read a poem about looking for heroes titled “Looking for Direction.”

In the 2nd round he read an old poem titled “Wrong Number” about a high school reunion & not remembering the kinds of things other folks seemed to remember.


Cheryl A. Rice, one of the 4 New Yorkers dialing in, began with a piece titled “23 & Me,” not interested in ancestry genetics. 

Her 2nd poem was a romantic memoir, “Romeo in July,” from the time she was dating her partner Michael, commuting to be together, full of tender details.


Tom Nicotera ended the 1st round with an early Summer poem, “Reading In the Spirit of T’ao Ch’ien [FootHills Publishing, 2012, edited by Charlie Rossiter] in my Breezeway” — you may still be able to get a copy from FootHill Publishing.

& he ended the night with a love poem, “Smack Dab in the Middle of the Suburbs,” a tender description of his lady friend’s house, flowers & trees, even the animals in the yard.


If you want to join this eclectic covey of poets who meet each 2nd Tuesday on Zoom (originating from Bennington, VT, send an email to Charlie charliemrossiter@gmail.com & ask to be put on his list, & maybe we’ll see you next time.

February 18, 2024

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

Back at Collar City Mushrooms for the open mic, with our hosts Nancy Klepsch & me. We were joined by folks from a regular poetry workshop in East Nassau so we had a full open mic sign-up list — but always room for more. 

Appropriately enough, first on the list was Avery Stempel, the proprietor of Collar City Mushrooms, who generously opens his farm/shop here for poetry each month; he read a work in progress inspired by the struggles of his cousin, a piece in rhyme beginning, “We’re all just broken people…”

Kathy Smith read some new poems (her book of poems, Let the Stones Grow Soft, was published in 2023 by The Troy Book Makers), the sad “In Geologic Time,” & one from a prompt from her poetry group to use the Imperative voice, “Downsize” -- the first of many poems today based on prompts.


Mimi Moriarty, who is in the poetry group with Kathy, read a Valentines Day poem, “I Wish For You,” then one titled “Wrong” posing the question, “what if we were wrong?” (Reminded me of a quote from Louis-Ferdinand Celine, “Learn how to be wrong, the World is filled with people who are right, that’s why it’s so disgusting.”)


Speaking of being wrong, I read next, 2 thematically related poems, “Joe the Bartender” & “Birthday Poem 2024” celebrating 60 years of sitting in bars.


Speaking of poetry groups, Philip Good was with others from his group to read a poem about the poetry group & Super Bowl Sunday (did I say this was the Day?).


Annabel Lee is in that group & read a poem from a prompt to write about a food & eating it, I think titled “Swedish Amber Crumbles;” then read another from the group (but not from a prompt), a word stream titled “No Mercy” (& how did Barry Manilow get in there?).

My co-host Nancy Klepsch read “The Invisible Lesbian” from her 2017 book God Must Be A Boogie Man, then a newer piece “Dear Taylor” for Taylor Swift.


Rhonda Rosenheck filled us in on some of the many poetry projects she is involved in, then read a love poem titled "Us" for her beloved, & one from mid-COVID based on a found-word prompt “Opulence.”


Agapi said she had read here previously, & began with, as so many did today, a poem from a prompt “Connecting” (inspired by working with patients who were dying); then a poem titled “Don’t Tell Me to Smile” that she wrote on New Years Day.


John Mason is also in the poetry group with Philip & Annabel, he read a string of thoughts titled “Forms” (complete with fungi), then a seasonal poem “When Does the Time Change, Fall?” which was a word play on that title. 


Anne Hoenstein had read here last month & today she read a sexy poem “Put a Light Around Me;” then another titled “Just What Grandpa Ordered.”

David Gonsalves finished off the list of readers with a couple poems, first “Uninvited Guest” a list of people at his son’s wedding, then one with the descriptive title “A Boy Scout Puts a Few Words in his English Teacher’s Mouth.” And that was it -- home for the Super Bowl.


The name of this open mic tells almost all you need to know, 2nd Sunday @ 2 — & the place is Collar City Mushrooms, 333 2nd Ave., Troy, NY — poetry + prose.




February 16, 2024

Poetry/Storytelling Open Mic, February 9

This is a new series at the Saratoga Springs Senior Center, held during the day, for those of us no longer working the 9 to 5. You can easily guess that the predominant hair color was grey. The organizer & host is poet Rachel Baum, who got us started by reading “Rotation,” a poem by Natasha Trethewey, about her father dying.


The reading started off with the featured poet, Jay Rogoff, who read mainly from his collection, Loving in Truth: New and Selected Poems (LSU Press, 2020). As one would expect from such a collection there was a variety of topics & moods, which makes for a reading in which the listeners are kept guessing, from science (“Sublimation” as a term in chemistry), to dance (“Latin Class”), “All the Same” from a series of loves poems for his wife, poems from a series based on the Book of Genesis (“In Hiding” & “Cain’s Gift”). There were clusters of sonnets, including a couple with the Virgin Mary in them (“The Ark” & “The Fountain”), & some new sonnets, one on the Berlin Holocaust Memorial, & one in trimeter (“Fathers Day”). His poems are built on strong, vivid images to comment on life & the world around the poet, such as his concluding poem, “Mennonites by the Sea” contrasting the fully-clothed Mennonite women with the more scantily-clad sun bathers. Jay is one of the great poetic treasures of this region.

From there, on to the open mic, with our host Rachel Baum starting us off with “What You Missed,” a poem about discovering a previously unknown half-brother through genetic testing. David Graham took us back to when he lived in Wisconsin, walking his dog in a cemetery, in his poem “To Earthward.” I followed with 2 recent poems, “Birthday Poem 2024” celebrating 60 years of sitting in bars, & “The Origin of Ghosts.”


Rhonda Rosenheck, who is busy with a number of her own poetry events, read from her phone a poem titled “My Skin Crackles” (like parchment), & a poem titled “Good at Math” from a 2018 chapbook. Jackie Craven read from a series of poems in which moments in Time are characters in the drama, the poems seem to be untitled, but began, “Clocks can’t be trusted in the Electric City…” & “Half-past yesterday has abandoned me…” 

The Poet Laureate of Saratoga Springs, Joseph Bruchac, began with his poem “Tutuwas” that was included in the recent anthology The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace and Renewal (Storey Publishiing, 2023), then a piece titled “Outside” written last night, composed of 4 Haiku formed into one poem. Steve read a memoir titled “The Squad” about his father & other emergency responders at a car wreck.


Debbie Begosian read a piece about “Needlepoint,” another titled “Trees.” Barry Finley gave a mini-course on the life & genius of Sir Isaac Newton. Tracy concluded the event with a reading of a section about the Bow & arrows from The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. 

This event occurs on the 2nd Friday, of the month at 1:00PM, at the Saratoga Senior Center Dining Room, 290 West Ave., Suite 1, Saratoga Springs, NY — RSVP by calling (518) 584-1621. There is a featured reader, then an open mic with participant reads 2 short poems. Storytellers have 5 minutes to tell, narrate or perform their piece. 

February 13, 2024

Invocation, February 5


Formerly Invocation of the Muse, I’d missed this open mic, usually held on the 1st Monday of the month, last month when it was held on the 2nd Monday, when I was snowed in. Turns out The Eleven, at Lark Hall, where this is held, is now closed on Mondays, but opened, so to speak, for the few poets who show showed up this night. Not quite sure what the Future will bring.


The founding host is long-time poetry impresario R.M. Engelhardt, but this night his role was played by poet Samuel Maurice. There were 5 of us reading & a couple of folks in for the show, including Charlene Shortsleeves who still lives on Lark St., & Jen, the owner of The Eleven who was using the slow night to rearrange the bar. 


I signed up #2 which was de facto #1 & read 2 poems which were separated by years but united by theme, “Joe the Bartender” & “Birthday Poem 2024” celebrating 60 years of sitting in bars.


Josh the Poet, as he often does read a new, recently written poem, this one titled “Wasteful Energy.” Earlier, we had some time to talk about some of the recent poetry zines he had been reading.


John Allen made a rare open mic appearance to read poems from his chapbook from SurVision Books that had won their 2020 James Tate Poetry Prize, Rolling in the Third Eye (SurVision Books, 2010) including an Emily Dickinson word mish-mash “Purity,” & fragments of dream-like prose poems, with surreal clashes of images.


Sam Maurice called for a somewhat unnecessary break, time to refresh my drink, then when we returned Sam read from Bob Kaufman’s Solitudes Crowded with Loneliness (New Directions, 1965), the poem for his son, “Walking Parker Home” & “Benediction.” That inspired me to recite my favorite Bob Kaufman poem, “Believe, Believe.”


By this time Josh had caught his ride home, so John finished off the night with a couple more poems from his book, one to a woman, "Marlene," the other titled “Lunaire's Village.” In any event it inspired me to track down SurVision & order a copy of Rolling in the Third Eye.


For now, & until I hear different, this open mic takes place on the 1st Monday of the month at The Eleven at Lark Hall on the corner of Lark St. & Hudson Ave., Albany — but most other Mondays The Eleven is closed.