Purgatory road, but certainly not purgatory
Friday night, March 5th, 2010, the poetry performed at the Howland Center in Beacon, New York, was as satisfying as frozen custard on a hot summer’s night.
The featured poets, Mike Jurkovic and Marina Mati were in complete command of their art. Mr. Jurkovic, who began the set, was as smooth as silk and Ms. Mati, who anchored, was flawless.
After the intermission twenty poets performed at the open-mic. The craftsmanship and skill presented were absolutely astonishing. In fact, although unavoidably invigorating, with such pros as John Kenselaar, Cheryl Rice, Theresa Costa, Lynn Hoins, Roberta Gould, Haigan Smith, and Donald Lev all reading, the literary perfection displayed might have been as daunting to the uninitiated as Roger Clemens pitching to a rookie. Nevertheless, newcomers and regulars alike, were equally enthralled.
Mike Jurkovic’s bombastic sarcasm led the charge. He performed many of the poems that are on his newly released compact disc, “Purgatory Road.” The more you heard the more you wanted to hear. Which is a testament to Mike’s talent for what he had to say wasn't always pretty.
Whether he was comparing national politics to a ponzi scheme, or sending his neighbor’s son to war, he remained cool, calm, collected, and edgy. If you ever wondered about what it might be like to read another person's thoughts but have never been able to decipher the encryption, then poetry readings like the one held Friday night in Beacon are for you.
Mike’s sly smile and dramatic presentation skills help you imagine what it’s like being John Malkovich . . . I mean Mike Jurkovic, perceiving the world through jade-colored ironies: comically musing that the “tree of heaven” is an invasive species, eating his Thanksgiving supper surrounded by formaldehyde-saturated walls, despairing for the village because he became a poet instead of a carpenter.
On the other hand, although equally witty, Marina Mati was fearlessly dark. She was out of the starting blocks with: “Poetry was Not Created for Your Convenience” and her imagery was as solid as anyone’s. From “soot cocoons” to never returning home, she too invited us inside her brain for the duration of her performance. Furthermore, Marina proved a formidable showman mixing styles, including two pieces accompanied by acoustic guitarist, Logan. Marina concluded with her four-part piece called Gershwin Romance which reminds us that music influences poetry as much as poetry influences music.
To paraphrase John Updike writing about Edgar Degas' painting “Ballet Rehearsal Onstage,” 1874, Friday night at the Howland Center there was a democracy of vision that gave the awkward equal representation with the graceful. The performances of everyone involved especially Mike and Marina reinforced the notion that although everything is not poetry, poetry, in the mind’s eye, is everything.
© Paul Clemente, March 7, 2010
John Kenselaar
Truth’s Troubadour
There are cultures where reading poetry as we usually do, a cappella, would seem unnatural. Throughout the world poetry is often sung or accompanied by an instrument. I admire a musical approach, and will be the first to admit when I hear a popular song that is poetic. From Simon and Garfunkel to Spearhead, who would deny the "poetry" in many modern lyrics? Admitedly popular songwriting has usurped poetry. Nevertheless, few modern lyrics rise to the standards most of us hold for poems. This said. It was clear to me the first time I heard John Kenselaar that he reveres song and poetry too much to allow one to intrude unreasonably upon the other. John was reciting his poems while playing the grand piano on the Colony Café’s historic stage and his musical-poetry immediately reminded me of the renowned guitarist and occasional poet, Leo Koetke.
If you are familiar with Leo, but didn't know that he wrote and performed poetry, then you might want to check out Leo’s album "My Father's Face." What was so interesting to me about John's work was that, like Leo, John seemed to straddle both genres the lyrical poem and the poetic lyric. You might charge me with aggravated semantics, but in creating from instinct and desire, rather than a geometric postulate, John may have formed his own exclusive category. He couples his literary skills with intuitive instrumentals and a rich baritone voice that for me is as satisfying as a Lindy's Ruben.
John Kenselaar, who has written and studied poetry for over 35 years, has become a regular and generous supporter of the Read for Food poetry series and its open mic. I'll never forget how at our kick-off event last March he handed me his total royalty from the previous weekend. All of which, and then some, was given to Rosendale Food Pantry the next day. In keeping with this generosity, John's poetry is about life, love, and loss. His work is as genuine as it comes, uncontrived, intelligent, and wise. John's literary clarity, stage presence, and insight captivate audiences of all ages and creeds.