The Woodstock Poetry Society’s February session hewed loosely to a Valentine’s Day theme, with authors exploring love and loss through readings and an open mic session
The February 14 session at the Woodstock Public Library, free and open to the public as always, began with a performance by multimedia artist Zelda, known as Judith Z. Miller. One of the two short stories she read recounts the time she bounded upstairs while moving into an apartment, belting out a tune from “Fiddler on the Roof” – only to face hostility from burly prison guards across the street, rumored to be antisemitic.
Tina Barry then read from her recently published poetry collection, “I Tell Henrietta,” starting with a group of humorous poems about meeting men through online dating sites and progressing through more romantic sentiments. In “Pot Roast,” a remembered childhood meal feels as romantic as any restaurant date:
… a magnificence
of meat, crisp-edged, fat-ribboned,
surrendered to the nudge of fork,
her potatoes poetry, pillow of noodles
sauce-stained onion-dark.
A poem about her artist husband, featuring a more traditional Valentine subject, has its own quirky style. It begins:
No more
ceramics–just
cats. All day. The latest
obsession. Why? Even he
can’t say.
During the open mic period, Wendy Kagan read two poems from her first chapbook, “Blood Moon Aria,” published in December by Red Bird Chapbooks. A chapbook is a short booklet, a form dating to the 16th century. Alex Stolis, who recently moved to Stone Ridge from Minneapolis, read his vigorously cadenced poem “The Revolution Is Being Televised,” a reference to Gil Scott-Heron’s song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” Judy Lechner read “How to Stay Safe in Trump’s America,” offering advice both sensible and freeing. In one portion, she read:
In between protests:
Plant a garden, whether on a sweeping acre or a windowsill.
And in another:
Cling to faith in courage, persistence, and wild imagination.
Phillip X Levine, who took over as the group’s president in 2004 and moderates the readings, selects readers each month from among informal submissions, making a point of presenting works by both Society members, especially those who have recently published their work, and unfamiliar writers. “I like to introduce new people,” he said.
Levine said his picks range from those that are formally structured to others that are “wildly experimental.”
Next month, the featured readers will be Michael Cohen and Rhonda Rosenheck. Cohen, a psychologist and poet, is the author of “In This Sea,” a chapbook published by The New School Press. Three of Cohen’s poems appear on the Society website in a section devoted to poems by Society members. Rosenheck, who wrote the chapbook “Looking: Out, Up, In & Under Rocks,” produced by Elephant Tree House Press, was a resident poet at the Fish Factory Creative Centre in Iceland and the Prospect Street Writers House in Vermont.
Sessions take place at the library on the first Saturday of each month and begin at 1 p.m. starting in March. They are also available on Zoom. The Society posts audio of featured readers on its website.
April’s session is exclusively open-mic and features “Poetry as Resistance” as its theme. Levine is asking writers to select a time slot in advance.
“I’m very concerned about our country,” Levine said. “Poetry can be a very strong tool in advocating for humanity.”
Writers who want to participate in the open mic sessions will find a sign-in sheet when they arrive. They can also ask Levine by email if they’d like to attend by Zoom.
Margaret Tomlinson is a contributing writer. You can send her an email at reporting@theoverlooknews.com.