I was the host of the open mic at the Arts Center in Troy solo this month, with an interesting backdrop the set of a play being presented in the the theater.
It was the classic nobody-signs-up-first at the open mic, so I took that spot, read “One Day Longer,” a poem that I had just missed reading last month, & the even newer “Cape Storm.” Ed Rinaldi did a couple of mini flash fiction pieces, then a longer piece about being at the store during “Autumnal Thunder Storm.” Trina Porte began with a woman’s perspective on soccer & kickball, “Alive & Kicking,” then to “Night of the Living Unedited,” & finished with a version of the Pledge of Allegiance for frogs & wetlands. Howard Kogan‘s “The Portal” is a brand-new poem pondering the cosmic potential of the date 11/11/11, then read about “The Now,” & ended with a poem, “Paradise,” from his recent collection of poems, Indian Summer (Square Circle Press, 2011).
Harvey Havel, who has been showing up in the audience of open mics but rarely reads, read some short prose pieces, 1st person imaginings of the horrors & absurdities of soldiers in war.
In contrast, Heather Haskins tale, “This Woman” (from a longer memoir), was grounded in the very real horrors of domestic violence seen at close hand.
Kathy Smith‘s 2 poems, “A Painting of the Snake with Adam & Eve” & “Litany” were both products of a writing weekend & both featured her accidental totem, the snake.
Sam Perkins’ sad poem “We Don’t Dance Anymore” included a section in which he sang.
This is an open mic for poets & for prose writers held on the 2nd Sunday of each month at 2PM at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River St., Troy, NY — free.
