The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza was the scene of the book-signing of R.M. Engelhardt‘s latest (his 13th he says) book of poems, The Resurrection Waltz. Just that morning the Metroland Readers’ Poll was published & Rob, a perennial contender in this rite of Spring, tied for 2nd place with, of all people, me — Mary Panza was this year’s “Best Local Poet.” In addition the Albany Times-Union Preview section contained an in-depth profile of Rob by Amy Biancolli. So “congratulations” & hand-shakes were the order of the night.
The poetry/music duo, Murrow (Thom Francis & Keith Spencer), performed first, with alternating old & new material, including the favorite, “Trucker.”
Rob read a substantial selection from The Resurrection Waltz (Infinity Publishing, 2012). I lost count of how many poems, but then so apparently so did he: having announced he would read “2 more poems” he read 4 — the more the merrier (or scarier, given the dark-angst of most of his poems) I say. The book is available online & at the Book House. It is certainly the best produced of his volumes so far & includes, he says, some older poems in revised versions.
Rob is also re-starting his “School of Night” poetry open mic series next month on the 2nd Thursday of each month at the Pearl St. Pub on Stueben Place (because to be on Pearl St. would be redundant). It’s billed as a “Traditional Open Mic” so bring “traditional” poems.
