Nicole Peyrafitte Performing in The Capital District In November

Nicole Peyrafitte will be back in the area next month for two performances.  She will be at Caffe Lena’s Poetry Open Mic on Wednesday, November 4th and at Justin’s on Lark Street the next night.  Her performances are always a great time and not to be missed.

Here is all the info from Nicole herself.

Performance artist Nicole Peyrafitte returns to the Capital District for 2 performances.

Wednesday November 4th 7 PM
Caffè Lena
Featured reader at the Caffè Lena Monthly Poetry event
$3 at the door
http://www.caffelena.org/cal-2009-11.htm#04
Nicole will read & sing (all a capella) her recent work.

Thusday November 5th 9 PM
Justin’s
accompanied by:
Mike Bisio – Double Bass
Georges Muscatello – Electric Guitar

301 Lark Street Albany NY 12208
reservation preferred: (518) 436-7008
Cover: $3

Nicole worked for many years with both Bisio and Muscatello. With Mike Bisio they signed the CD “Whisk! Don’t Church” (Ta’wil production 2009). With Muscatello they co-wrote some of “The Bi-Continental Chowder” (Ta’wil production 2007) tunes and together toured the performance of the same name both in France and the USA.

Tonight their reunion will celebrates music, poetry and improvisation through selections of Peyrafitte’s originals texts, but also contemporary poetry by Pierre Joris, Henri Michaux, Frida Kahlo & Occitan songs.

Contact: Nicole Peyrafitte
Email: peirahitta@gmail.com
Telephone: 518.281.5407

BIO:
Pyrenean-born Nicole Peyrafitte is a performance artist who sings, paint, films, writes & cooks. She draws on her eclectic heritage to perform songs ranging from French cabaret to jazz standards and contemporary poetry. Her voice work is often integrated into multimedia stagings based on her visuals (paintings and/or videos) and writings. Her multimedia performances projects often involve the onstage preparation and cooking of a dish, shared with the audience. Her work addresses the experiences of negotiating her identity across two continents and four languages.

She performs domestically and in France. After her Capital district mini-tour she will be in Angoulême, France for a performance at the International Symposium : L'art, L'éducation & le politique. Her current projects involve the co-direction of a documentary on sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens and she keeps a blog “Collectages: Recordings of Foods & A®titudes” (http://nicolepeyrafitte.com/blog/)

QUOTES :
"Nicole Peyrafitte is a brilliant and most original performer. Her vocalizations, her songs, her gestures are provocative: both stunningly beautiful and powerfully unnerving at times. She is the chthonic goddess come to tempt you, scare you, transform you. She is in the poetic lineage of Greek tragedy, Café Voltaire antics, of dada and surrealist play but with a post-modern, hip sensibility. I am transfixed when she's on stage." -- Poet/Performer Anne Waldman

Review of: "Whisk!Dont Churn!"
By: Greg Haymes
Music Editor at the Times Union
Parade of CDs - New music blossoms in the Capital Region
(First published: Thursday, March 12, 2009)
After hibernating through much of the long winter, Capital Region musicians are beginning to emerge from their dark recording-studio lairs with brand new CDs in their hot, little paws.
First out of the box this week is the dynamic twosome of vocalist Nicole Peyrafitte and bassist Michael Bisio, who will join forces on stage tonight at Justin's in Albany to celebrate the release of their debut live album, "Whisk! Don't Churn!" on the Ta'wil label.Both are fearlessly adventurous musicians, and the performance on this disc — recorded at Justin's in November — captures it all magnificently. Spoken-word and multilingual vocalizations engage in masterful swordplay with sonic bass explorations.
As CD producer Pierre Joris says, the two artist-musicians "have developed an ongoing and challenging conversation based on their unconditional dedication to their chosen modes of expression." Open your ears wide and if you listen close enough to the provocative sounds of Bisio and Peyrafitte, you'll hear the sound of a kitchen whisk played like a Stradivarius.

About her 2007 CD:

“…Performance artist Nicole Peyrafitte serves up some very interesting sound-scapes and emotional improvisations on her new CD entitled “La Garbure Transcontinentale / The Bi-Continental Chowder”. Alternating between French and English poetics, Peyrafitte attempts to help the listener make the connection that she has made through her heuristic research in America and in France... the Bi-Continental Chowder is a very tasty and imaginative work. With Peyrafitte’s vocal borrowings from Meredith Monk and Yoko Ono and a band that lends credence to her vocal explorations, this CD is definitely recommended for those listeners in need of an ear stretching. --Darryl Gregory - Indie-Music.com

more reviews and videos: http://www.nicolepeyrafitte.com

Tim Mason and Lisa LoBasso at Caffe Lena, July 1

This month the Caffe Lena Open Mic has two featured poets plus an open mic.  Here is the info from Carol Graser:

Timothy Mason has been actively performing poetry and promoting folk music since the 1980's. He honed is performance style in the early poetry slams and at the fabled Kerrville Folk Festival giving the songwriters a run for their money. His first book Gently, Like Water, Cracking Stone was released in April 1997. His most recent work, Feral Voices, published in February 2009, is a collection of poetry giving a non-human voice and sensibility to the 21st century experience on our shared planet. From Anchorage, Toronto and Ottawa to Boston, Austin and Oakland, festival and club appearances have solidified his place among contemporary New England artists and international audiences. "...beautiful imagery and solid structure mixed with an intense performance style...."  www.timothydmason.com

Refusing to characterize her poetic style as either academic or performance, LisaAnn LoBasso considers herself most at home among artists. With over 20 years experience, she has produced countless readings and collaborative arts events, such as the Up Close, Let Loose Traveling Poets’ Reading Series, and Operation Soapbox, while still racking  up her own credentials, including Poet Ambassador of Kern County in California, as well as appearances at venues and universities from West Coast to East. LisaAnn’s work has been lauded as both dynamic and boundary-breaking; dubbed a poetry minstrel by Las Vegas City Life Weekly, she has featured with diverse and noteworthy poets, such as Nicholas Roerich Prize winner Lee McCarthy, California Poet Laureate Al Young, and Paterson Award Winner Indran Amirthanayagam. Twice nominated for California Poet Laureate 2008, she has two poetry books in print: In the Swollen a poetry collection (2003), and Oleander Milkshake, (2008). In her spare time, LisaAnn develops creative writing programs, theatre scripts, arts-education programs, and public arts installations with artists as far as England. She travels worldwide and recently just returned from living in India for three months. LisaAnn has worked closely with Gluck Award winner Frances Mconnel, National Book Award finalist and critically acclaimed author Susan Straight, and Pulitzer Prize nominee Maurya Simon.

Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday July 1
doors open 7PM, readings start 7:30
Featured Poets: Tim Mason and Lisa LoBasso
$3
hosted by Carol Graser
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs
www.caffelena.org     583-0022

Upcoming Poetry Readings and Events

Busy week in poetry coming up.  Things kicked off yesterday with Dan Wilcox’s annual birthday tribute and reading of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”.  Here is some information on Tuesday’s Albany Poets Presents and Wednesday’s Caffe Lena Open Mic up in Saratoga. 

Albany Poets Presents, Tuesday, June 2

Albany Poets Presents, hosted by Thom Francis returns to Valentines on Tuesday, June 2 starting at 8:00PM.

Come over and join local poets and spoken word artists for an evening of conversation, cocktails, coffee, and, of course, poetry. The signup starts at 7:00PM for anyone who wants to take the stage and share their work.

Albany Poets Presents takes place at Valentines Music Hall (17 New Scotland Ave.) on the first Tuesday of each and every month.

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic,  Wednesday, June 3 featuring Bill Wunder

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic on Wednesday, June 3.  7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start with featured poet: Bill Wunder.  $3.  Hosted by Carol Graser at Caffe Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs.  For more information contact www.caffelena.org or call 583-0022.

This poetry month is sponsored by Joe and Carol Bruchac in memory of Kate O'Connell, a true lover and supporter of poetry.

Bill Wunder is the author of Pointing at the Moon (WordTech Editions, 2008) and a chapbook, A Season of Storms (Via Dolorosa Press, 2002). His poems have twice been nominated for The Pushcart Prize, and in 2004 he was named Poet Laureate of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Bill has been a finalist in The T. S. Eliot Prize two times, and the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards four times. He has read and lectured in local schools, colleges, on public television. His poems and short stories have been widely published, most recently in the Innisfree Poetry Journal, The Manhattan Review and The Paterson Literary Review. Bill serves as Poetry Editor of The Schuylkill Valley Journal, and lives with his two black labs in Bucks County.

Be sure to check the Poetry Calendar and if there are any events, readings, or open mics that we are missing, feel free to send us an email and we will add it to the calendar.

Memorial Day Open Stage at Caffe Lena

Forgot to add this to the list of upcoming poetry events.  Sunday, May 24 is Open Stage day at Caffe Lena in Saratoga.  Here is all the info:

This Sunday, May 24, 7:30 PM, is Caffe Lena's 5th annual Memorial Day Open Stage. The Saratoga Peace Alliance is co-sponsoring the event along with the Adirondack Chapter of Veterans for Peace. Join us for poetry, song, storytelling and reflection, patriotic or otherwise!   Performer sign-up goes from 7- 7:30. Caffe Lena is located at 47 Phila St. in Saratoga Springs.

Caffe Lena Poetry Festival, April 11

The Albany Word Fest is not the only poetry festival in the area this year celebrating National Poetry Month.  Carol Graser is putting together the Caffe Lena Poetry Festival on Saturday, April 11 (from noon to 10:00PM) with a great lineup of poets, workshops, and activities all leading up to a reading by the legendary Ed Sanders.

Here is the information from Carol:

This year Caffè Lena greets the approaching spring and the arrival of National Poetry Month with a torrent of words: an all-day festival of poetry performance and workshops.

The program will feature twenty-minute readings throughout the afternoon by twelve stylistically varied, widely read poets from NYC, Rhode Island, Maine, the Capital District and the Adirondacks. Included will be Bernadette Mayer, Joseph Bruchac, Sam White, Michael Brown, Lyn Lifshin, Alan Catlin, Steven Huff, Miriam Axel-Lute, Barbara Ungar, Nancy White, Miriam Herrera and Jordan Smith. Workshops will be offered by Joe Bruchac, Michael Brown, Barbara Ungar, Jordan Smith, Miriam Axel-Lute and Steven Huff.

Afterward, we'll Gather for conversation and a meal of appetizers, salads and main course dishes. Bring a dish for 10 people and eat for free, or pay $10 and fill your plate at the eclectic buffet.

Headlining our first Caffè Lena Poetry Festival is Ed Sanders, famed counter-culture figure of the ‘60s, who built a bridge between the Beatnik and Hippy generations.

Please check www.caffelena.org  for a full schedule of readings, workshops, and for information about the potluck dinner.

Edward TIck at Caffe Lena, Feb 4

Poet Edward Tick will be the featured poet this month at the Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic this coming Wednesday, February 4 in historic Saratoga Springs.  Carol Graser hosts this great open mic for poetry and spoken word.  

Edward Tick, Ph.D. is a holistic psychotherapist, writer, educator, journey guide, activist and veterans’ advocate. His poetry is featured in the publication THE GOLDEN TORTOISE: VIET NAM JOURNEYS (2005),   He has dedicated much of his life and work to veterans and survivors of war, violence and trauma since the late 1970s.  He specializes in using psycho-spiritual, cross-cultural, and international reconciliation practices to help veterans, communities and nations heal.  He is founder and Director of Soldier’s Heart: A Veterans’ Safe Return Program.  This program is of national and international scope with home offices in Troy, N.Y.  Dr. Tick is an adjunct professor in both Communication and Global Studies at the Sage Colleges.  He leads international educational, healing and reconciliation journeys to Greece, Viet Nam and other countries.  Dr. Tick has published 4 books (2 with Quest Books): SACRED MOUNTAIN, ENCOUNTERS WITH THE VIETNAM BEAST (1989), THE PRACTICE OF DREAM HEALING (2001), WAR AND THE SOUL, winner of ForeWord Magazine’s Best Psychology Book of 2005, and WILD BEASTS AND WANDERING SOULS (2007).  He is also a poet and is the author of almost 100 articles in psychology, holistic health, mythology and spirituality, literature, philosophy, culture and travel. Ed is a frequent guest lecturer at numerous institutions around the country and world, most recently including Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Sign up starts at 7:00PM, the reading starts at 7:30PM.  There is a $3.00 admission for this event.  More information at www.caffelena.org.

Mary Cuffe Perez at Caffe Lena

The Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic returns this Wednesday, January 7 with featured poet Mary Cuffe Perez.

Mary Cuffe Perez is a writer and amateur naturalist living in Galway, New York.  She has a poetry book, The Woman of Too Many Days, published with Calyx Press and most recently, a children’s novel  , Skylar (Philomel Books 2008). Her short fiction has appeared in New England Quarterly, Groundswell, 13^th Moon and Salvage magazines.  and her poetry has appeared in numerous literary magazines over the years, including the Washout Review, Blueline, Bitterroot, Yankee Magazine and the Seattle Review.

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, January 7
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet: Mary Cuffe Perez
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Caffe Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs 518-583-0022

Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic Featuring Philip Memmer on Wednesday, Oct. 1

This month sponsored by the members of the Story Quilt Committee of the Galway Public Library

Philip Memmer is the author of two books of poems, most recently Threat of Pleasure, which was published in June 2008 by Word Press. Word Press also published his Sweetheart, Baby, Darling in 2004. He is also the author of three chapbooks of poems, including Greatest Hits (Pudding House Publications), The Apartment (piccadilly press) and For Resident (FootHills Publishing). His third collection of poems, Lucifer: A Hagiography, was selected for the Idaho Prize from Lost Horse Press, and will be published in February 2009.

Philip Memmer's poems have appeared widely in literary journals, including Poetry, Poetry Northwest, Southern Poetry Review, Mid-American Review, Epoch, Tar River Poetry, and many others. His work has also appeared in several anthologies, including 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day, edited by Billy Collins.
Memmer is the director of the Arts Branch of the YMCA of Greater Syracuse, where he founded the Downtown Writer's Center in 2001. He is the editor of Two Rivers Review, associate editor for Tiger Bark Press, and the current poetry editor of the journal Stone Canoe.

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, October 1
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet: Philip Memmer
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Caffe Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs
www.caffelena.org     583-0022

Poetry Book Donations

This is from our friend Carol Graser:

Dear Friends,

I recently started running poetry workshops at Tryon Girls Center, a New York State juvenile detention center.  I’ve been impressed with what fluid, expressive writing they produce and how much they love poetry. These girls have a lot of difficulty in the classroom but they sit attentively through the poetry workshop, are supportive of each others writing and engage in very profound discussions of the poems I bring for them to read.  They would benefit greatly from more exposure to poetry but unfortunately, their library is doesn’t provide much.

If some of you would be willing to donate a volume or two of poetry (or any book you feel would be relevant to them), it would go long way to helping these kids. The majority of girls in the Tryon are 15- or 16-years-old, although some are as young as 12. Almost 73 percent are African American or Hispanic, and many come from poorer neighborhoods in New York City. The majority of girls have suffered past physical and sexual abuse, and many need mental health care as well as treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.

You can bring your donations to Caffè Lena on poetry night, Wed. Oct. 1. or contact me at cgraser@nycap.rr.com and we’ll figure something out.

If you are able to help Carol out, please do what you can.  This is a great cause and will be a good home for your poetry books.

Steven Huff at Caffe Lena, August 6

The next Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic is on Wednesday, August 6 with featured poet Steven Huff. 

Steven Huff  is a poet and fiction writer, and the Director of Adult Education and Programming at Writers & Books. He teaches creative writing at RIT and the Eastman School of Music, and is the voice of “Fiction in Shorts” on WXXI-FM. Steve’s new book of poems, More Daring Escapes, is due out this fall from Red Hen Press, as is his new book of stories, A Pig in Paris from Lake Affect Publishers. His previous books include The Water We Came From, published in 2003 by FootHills, and Proof, which was named Editor’s Choice in the 2004 Two Rivers Review Chapbook Competition.

Sign up for the open mic begins at 7:00PM, open mic starts at 7:30PM.  There is a $3.00 suggested donation.  Your host, Carol Graser.  Caffe Lena is located at 47 Phila Street in beautiful downtown Saratoga Springs.

Caffe Lena Open Mic And Chapbook Release

Two Caffe Lena posts in one day...

The first Wednesday of every month Caffe Lena presents
CAFFE LENA POETRY OPEN MIC on Wednesday, April 2.  Doors open at 7:00PM, reading starts at 7:30. $3.00 admission. 

This months featured poets are contributors from Caffe Lena's first poetry publication, EVERY DROP OF WATER: VOICES FROM CAFFE LENA POETRY STAGE with short readings from A.C. Everson, Barbara Ungar, Francelise Dawkins, Rob Faivre, Therese Broderick, Bob Sharkey, Dan Wilcox, Barbara Garro, Sue Jefts, Kristen Day and Sarah Craig.

Please joins us to celebrate the official release of Every Drop of Water:Voices From Caffe Lena Poetry Stage. In the summer of 2003, Carol Graser stepped forward to revive Caffe Lena's long neglected poetry program. Since then Caffe Lena has enjoyed monthly poetry open mics, each highlighting a featured poet. This chapbook, the first ever released by the coffeehouse , contains poems written by features form the open mic's first two years. some authors will be present to read their work throughout the evening and the chapbook will be available for sale for the first time.

This month is sponsored by: Saratoga Poetry Festival, Dedicated to Poetry in Public.

Caffe Lena Celebrates National Poetry Month

On Sunday, April 6th, 2:00PM at Caffe Lena (47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs, NY), in celebration of National Poetry Month, Caffè Lena offers a program of poetry written by and about women. Five award-winning poets will read their works: Barbara Ungar, Nancy White, Elaine Handley, Marilyn McCabe and Mary Sanders Shartle.

In addition, Handley, McCabe and Shartle will be joined by Lauren Vanko and Caroline Seligman in reading from Emma Saves Her Life, a book of poems based on the letters of author Naton Leslie's grandmother. Born in the mountains of Appalachia in 1907, Emma tells stories about her life which reverberate with wisdom, humor and pathos.

Don't miss this unique event at Lena's.  Cost is $5. 

For more information contact Mary Sanders Shartle at sar-poetryzone@sals.edu.

Caffe Lena Open Mic Featuring Jan Marin Tramontano

The first Wednesday of every month Caffe Lena presents Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic on Wednesday March 5. Doors open at 7:00PM, reading starts at 7:30PM. This months featured poet is Jan Marin Tramontano. This reading is hosted by Carol Graser and there is a $3.00 admission.  This month has been sponsored by Coral Crosman

Caffe Lena is located at 47 Phila St. Saratoga Springs. For more information contact 518-583-0022 or go to their website, www.caffelena.org

Jan Marin Tramontano’s poems and stories have appeared most recently in: Poets Canvas, Women’s Synergy, Byline, Knock, Chronogram, American Intercultural Magazine, New Verse News, Mom’s Literary Magazine, Ophelia’s Mom, and Surviving Ophelia. She has also written a poetry chapbook, Floating Islands, her father’s memoir, I am a Fortunate Man, and she is a contributor to the Times Union’s Book Section. She is on the advisory board of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild.

Urban Renewal

I was downtown looking at an apartment
in a building once elegant, now shabby.
The brown stones marred, exposed
to the harsh air, weathered like the face of
an aging starlet.

There was a crack in the glass door
and a can rolled down the stairs
bouncing down each step
its rhythm even and steady.

I stopped it with my foot,
picked it up and started slowly
up the wide, creaky stairs
ready to see if charm was enough.

I pushed hard on the door
swelled in a frame that opened reluctantly
into a room filled with pitiless light
and a tattered, familiar couch.

I ran my hand over the scarlet fabric
now worn and stained and sat down,
feeling at home in a place
once grand, now merely dependable.

Carol Graser at Caffe Lena Sunday, November 25

In celebration of her new book of poetry, The Wild Twist of Their Stems, Carol Graser will be performing at Caffe Lena Sunday, November 25 at 7pm. She'll be joined by jazz musician Elisabeth Woodbury and percussionist Chrys Ballerano. Opening for her will be comedian Marly Halpern-Graser. For reservations call 583-0022.

Praise for The Wild Twist of Their Stems:

These poems are smartly lyrical & welcome to my consciousness. It's a great pleasure to have Carol Graser's poems.
-Bernadette Mayer

Generations are woven together in these poems of Carol Grazer's with an ease as natural as the wind twining grasses. Her reflections on motherhood and relationships, and the small anxious dramas of everyday life are as memorable and true as any I've read, tempered by hope and humor, self-aware, yet never self-centered. It's a journey worth taking.
-Joseph Bruchac

At once shocking and then calming, Graser’s words take you on the ever-winding journey of being a mother. Deep and profound, her words and images will remain long after you have closed the book.
-Debra Wetzel, MotherVerse Magazine

An exploration of the awe, strife, and joys of motherhood, Saratoga Springs poet Carol Graser’s first book focuses on the movement of small moments in the context of larger meaning. Her verse emphasizes repetition and enjambment to create memorable images.
-Carolyn Niehaus, Chronogram

Carol Graser hosts the first Wednesday of the month poetry series at Caffe Lena. She has read her poetry at many community events including fund-raisers, anti-war rallies and as a featured reader at poetry events around New York.   Her poetry has appeared in regional journals such as Screed, Salvage and Metroland as well as in numerous national publications like Lullwater Review, Berkeley Poetry Review, The Worcester Review, The MacGuffin and Eureka Literary Magazine.

Marly Halpern-Graser  is a recent graduate of Emerson College’s film program. He has performed stand up comedy in Boston and Cambridge, as well as Woodstock and Saratoga Springs, NY. His comedic short films and animations have been screened in numerous film festivals internationally, and he has won many awards, including Best Short Documentary at the Lake Placid Film Festival. He's currently working in LA as a comedy writer.

Elizabeth Woodbury Kasius is the composer-arranger-pianist for HEARD, a modern chamber ensemble, where she brings a wide array of styles --jazz, classical and world music-- into her captivating soundscape. Her inspirations come from her diverse experiences and interests and are often drawn from the raw and powerful sources that nature provides.

Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic Featuring Tim Verhaegen

The Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic returns on the Wednesday, November 7 (sign-up at 7:00, reading starts at 7:30PM) with featured poet Tim Verhaegen.

Tim Verhaegen has been living in the Capital District for almost thirty years and is a regular at this and many other local poetry events. His work has been published in the anthology Poetry Don't Pump Gas. Tim’s poetry often targets the intimate stories of his own life and the stories of the people closest to him. He's a collector of toy cars, toy animals and other figurines and has been accused of being a "people collector". 

The Caffe Lena Open Mic takes place on the first Wednesday of each month hosted by Carol Graser. Admission is $2.00 . Caffe Lena is located at 47 Phila St. Saratoga Springs. For more information call 518-583-0022 or go to www.caffelena.org

Dan Wilcox Poetry Open Mic Round-Up

Welcome back to the Dan Wilcox Open Mic Commentary Round-Up. This is the third edition of the round-up that brings all of Dan’s commentaries from his blog together in one place. This time around we have two open mics and the first Frequency North of the new season.

Albany Poets Presents, October 2

One often wonders whether this open mic really happens or just exists in the fantasy of alcohol & memory. Once some years ago I read a poem here & a lady I had invited told me later that's when she fell in love with me. On some nights the-nameless-we just sat around & told outrageous stories & bought each other beers. On the Road is filled with such lies & similar fabrications. "October in the railroad earth..."

Caffe Len, October 3

I've realized that "October is the Columbus-day month breeding racism & death in the continent..." so I have started including Tom Nattell's "Columbus Fantasies" in my readings. These were poems written in 1992 to commemorate the Indians discovering an Italian mercenary for Spain landing on their shore. After doing a new poem of my own, "Starting the Wine," I did #23.

Frequency North, October 4

This is the third year of this reading series at St. Rose, run by new poppa Daniel Nester. This year the readings have been moved from St. Joseph's Hall auditorium, with the big stage & curtains, to the Library. Same number of people showed up, just looked more crowded. I mean if the same 40 people showed up at the Knickerbocker Arena -- I mean Pepsi Arena -- whoops, no, Times-Union Center -- folks would say, "there was nobody there." Like skinny girls in tight pants.

As always, be sure to check out Dan’s blog often for these commentaries and poetry from Dan and other area poets.

Poetry at Caffe Lena with Michael Czarnecki

Tomorrow night, the first Wednesday of the month, Caffe Lena presents its Poetry Open Mic night with featured poet Michael Czarnecki.

This open mic is hosted by Carol Graser. There is a $2.00 admission. Sign up at 7:00PM, the reading starts at 7:30PM. Caffe Lena is located at 47 Phila St, Saratoga Springs.

Michael Czarnecki is the founder of Foothills Publishing, which he began in 1986 for the purpose of getting into print the words of poets whose only outlets were readings or in the occasional magazine. Since then, Foothills Publishing has released more than 250 chapbooks or books. As a poet, Michael has given over 200 featured readings across the country in venues as varied as wine festivals, colleges and coffeehouses.  As a prolific poet, publisher, oral memoirist and encourager, Michael lives simply with his family in the hills of central New York.

The Echo Of What Has Passed

T'ao Ch'ien would understand.
I sit drinking wine
chanting poems
dreaming of mountains.
Bills pile high at the door.
White hairs infiltrate my beard.
Daughter approaches womanhood.
Young son no longer crawls.
Late Autumn, already snow
has covered the ground.
Sipping, wine, I shiver
as a chill breeze
caresses me from behind.