A bitter-sweet reading tonight since it was the last Albany reading by The Storm (Donnell Stewart), who I had seen at such diverse venues as Java Jazz in Delmar & the former Wize Wordz series. She read from her hand-written notebooks beginning with an ironic love poem to someone more interested in themself, then on to a piece about how labels de-humanize us. She considered what is it in a woman that is “Inspiration,” then a piece in fun, “Why Am I Not a Poet?” “Farewell to Youth” was that & the confessions of life. She asked “Do You Still Love Me?” then ended with a sexy goodbye to Albany. We wish her well & much more poetry in her & her family’s new life down south.
There were only 3 readers for the open (& a few listeners). I read a poem combining rock music & a late night phone call, “Henry Rollins,” then “What I Found at the Bus Stop When the Snowbanks Melted,” & my rant written in response to the “Occupy DC/Stop the Machine” event I had attended, “One Day Longer.” Alex was here for the first time & read a couple of untitled pieces, the first where his own loneliness makes his realize how his father’s loneliness must have felt, & the second an unflattering description of his first boyfriend. Our host, Don Levy, began with a poem by James Wright, “Complaint,” then a crazy lady giviing a “Sermon at the Bus Shelter,” a childhood memoir, “South Colonie Side Story.”
This reading with an open mic takes place each 2nd Wednesday of the month at the Pride Center of the Capital Region, 332 Hudson Ave., Albany, NY, 7:30PM.
