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      You are here: Home / Arts / Poetry Open Mic at the Belden Noble Library

      Poetry Open Mic at the Belden Noble Library

      January 12, 2013 By Geo Davis Leave a Comment

      Poetry in Essex, July 10 at the Adirondack Art Association (clockwise from top left: Colleen Torrans, Judith Moore, Donna Joerg, Bill Poppino)
      Poetry Open Mic, 7/10/12 (clockwise from top left: Colleen Torrans, Judith Moore, Donna Joerg, Bill Poppino)

      You may have noticed the smell of spring in Essex these last few days.

      Don’t get duped. It’s a hoax. A dangling daffodil serenading you beneath your window. “Lose your hat, and lose your mitts,” she sings. “De-hibernate and free your wits and things. Dispatch the freeze. Embrace the thaw. For springtime’s ease returns for all…”

      It’s a seductive tune, but don’t let yourself begin to hum along. Fortify yourself against January thaw’s beguiling, misleading song. Winter will come marching back just as sure as Monday will follow Sunday. Cold. Snow. Wintery mix.

      But fret not! Another sort of springtime is just around the corner. On Wednesday, January 30, at 7:00 p.m. the Belden Noble Library will host a community poetry reading to chase away the winter blues.

      Poetry Open Mic

      The poetry readings scheduled for January 30 and February 27 at 7:00 p.m. at the Belden Noble Library in Essex, NY are a midwinter extension of the poetry evenings held at the Adirondack Art Association over the last two summers. The summer poetry events initiated by Jeff Moredock were originally billed as “poetry slams”. In fact, the evenings were not competitions at all, but friendly celebration of poetry.

      Strictly speaking the AAA sponsored poetry events are not poetry slams. They are informal, public readings in which everyone is invited to share their own poetry aloud with a friendly and supportive audience comprised of other writers and poetry aficionados. Poetry slams are competitive. “Simply put, poetry slam is the competitive art of performance poetry. It puts a dual emphasis on writing and performance, encouraging poets to focus on what they’re saying and how they’re saying it. A poetry slam is a competitive event in which poets perform their work and are judged by members of the audience. Typically, the host or another organizer selects the judges, who are instructed to give numerical scores (on a zero to 10 or one to 10 scale) based on the poets’ content and performance.” (Poetry Slam – General FAQ) … [During the Poetry Open Mics in Essex] you’ll witness no competition, only encouraging and admiring peers. (Essex on Lake Champlain)

      Jeff Moredock reading his poetry at the Adirondack Art Association in Essex, NY.
      Jeff Moredock reading poetry in Essex.

      In keeping with the tradition of misnomers (We call it poetic license!), we’ve dubbed the winter readings “Poetry Open Mic” despite the fact that no microphones will be used. Just your friends and neighbors sharing their verses aloud. Whether you’re a poetry writer or a poetry reader, you are invited to attend the January 30 Poetry Open Mic. The evening is open to every kind of poet, every style of poetry, seasoned bards, wobbly kneed amateurs and the adoring public who savor the spoken word. There is no entrance fee, and there are no auditions. Just local, organic, free-range poetry.

      What does that look like? Here’s an excerpt from a poem written and read by Donna Joerg in July.

      This I know
      After the shoefly pie cools
      On a rainy day
      John Mayall is the best music
      The donkey that strayed out the fence
      Won’t get hit in the road
      Because it’s spring
      Because no grass is greener
      Blessings are everywhere
      And you can see them if you move slowly
      Better if you don’t flinch
      Just try holding them down a while
      Or push one hoof back in, gently
      Until it can, so it all comes out right…
      ~ Donna Joerg, “Lab Rat”

      Perhaps I’ll be publishing an excerpt from your poem soon? Polish it up and come on down to the library at seven on Wednesday, January 30 to share it with the community.

      Poetry Open Mic at the Belden Noble Library

      The Belden Noble Library is located in Essex, New York, directly across from the Essex Ferry dock (Map and more information here).

      Address: 2759 Essex Road, Essex, New York, 12936
      Telephone: (518) 963-8079
      Website: essexlibrary.org

      Related articles
      • Singing for Change at Essex Library
      • Belden Noble Memorial Library
      • Is poetry the new comedy?
      • Performance Poetry

       

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      Filed Under: Arts, Events, Recreation Tagged With: Arts, Bill Poppino, Colleen Torrans, Donna Joerg, Essex New York, Jeff Moredock, John Mayall, Judith Moore, Literature, open mic, Poet, Poetry, Poetry Open Mic

      About Geo Davis

      Geo Davis (aka virtualDavis) is a writer, storyteller and unabashed flâneur. He taught and coached at Santa Fe Preparatory School and The American School of Paris, co-founded Maison Margaux: "Paris à la parisienne" in Faubourg Saint-Germain, and owns Adobe Oasis in Santa Fe, NM with his bride.

      Geo chronicles adventures (and misadventures) of rehabilitating an historic Essex home at Rosslyn Redux: Reawakening a home, a dream and ourselves; blogs about doodling and other esoterica at virtualDavis.com; posts sometimes unnerving, occasionally euphoric, and always pollyanna "midlife mashups" at 40x41.com; waxes nautical at Sailing Errant; and delves into matters of parenting, babylandia, and childfreedom at Why No Kids? He meanders on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and Flickr.

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