Where you can find my thoughts & poems…
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http://albanypoetrm.blogspot.com
R.M. Engelhardt. Writer~Poet-Albany,NY
Tag Archives: Metroland
LEXIKON…
LEXIKON
Initiate.
Trans-mute, Transcend
All “Matter”
Bring Forth,
And Thus Summon
All Gods … And Words
Obsolete (They Return)
Creation. Soul. Dimension. Time.
AWAKEN “The Dead”
Sound~ECHO Of Crashing Waves Entities
Dying Against All Flesh Bleeding, Bled
Into VOICE.
As the Smoke Of Her Cigarettes, Her Smell
& The Image Of Her Body All Still Linger,
Like A Poem, Perfume Instilled
Unto That One Perfect Dream
Of Youth.
Spring.
Roar.
Snow.
Moon.
Soar In & Thru
Eternity, A Song
Of Beauty Beneath & Hidden
Between
“Days”
To Wish To Pray
To Become & Believe
In Some Vacant Thought
Un-Aware
Called “Inspiration”
_____________
R.M. ENGELHARDT 2011
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Collected Poems Article, 2006.
Engelhardt Publishes His Collected Poems
MICHAEL ECK Special to the Times Union
Section: Arts-Events, Page: H1
Date: Sunday, October 29, 2006
Section: Arts-Events, Page: H1
R.M. Engelhardt wears black sunglasses in the shade. He chain-smokes Djarums until his head is wreathed in a clove-scented cloud. And, in the middle of the day, he sucks down coffee like a trucker on a midnight run.
Engelhardt, in case you haven’t already figured it out, is a poet. But he doesn’t just walk the role, he talks it, too. In fact, he’s been speaking his poetic mind in public for more than a decade, at least on occasion as the host the long-running Vox and School of Night readings series, both of which he founded, fostered and produced at local nightclubs. Engelhardt, 42, is one of the leading lights of the Albany poetry scene, and he is finally, rightfully, celebrating himself with the publication of “The Last Cigarette: The New & Collected Poems of R.M. Engelhardt” on his own Dead Man’s Press.
He calls the work, which includes selections previously published in journals, online magazines and in his own chapbooks, “a handbook of my life.”
Q: Why do you write poetry?
A: Why do people breathe? Why do people make music?
I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I wrote a Greek myth when I was 12 years old. We were studying Greek myths and my sixth-grade teacher freaked out. That was my first clue it was like, hmmm, I did something interesting.
When I was about 15 years old, I was a Doors fan. I liked Jim Morrison and all that. Then I read (Danny Sugerman’s Morrison biography) “No One Here Gets Out Alive” and he made references to Blake and Rimbaud and other poets. Of course, being an introverted, quiet kid, in junior high, with glasses, the whole thing, I spent my time in the library, in the corner, reading all those books.
I started writing a lot at that time. It’s just a part of life. It’s who I am.
Q: Your work has been published and you’ve performed it as well, which do you prefer, the page or the stage?
A: Actually, I’m more partial to the page. I’ve written more than just poetry. I’ve written prose pieces and things like that, which are also in the book. I like the craft of writing itself.
I do enjoy performing, but I find lately that I’m staying in more and writing, rather than going out all the time.
It’s kind of crucial that you have a place where you can share your work with other people and perform your stuff and get feedback on it, but as I’m getting older I see that the form and the style in the clubs is changing, with poetry slams and poetry battles.
I’m old-school, and my style is different from what’s coming out now. You won’t see me doing any slams in the future. I’ve done them before, but it’s not for me.
Q: Why Albany?
A: I’m a sixth-generation Albanian. That’s one reason. My family’s been here since 1890.
Albany is where I grew up. It’s a part of me. A lot of people I know have died here. Their memories are here. It’s my city. It’s my town.
I tried Florida, just to see what it was like. I thought maybe I would stay in the Keys there’s a great quality to the way it’s laid back there but the funny thing was, I had nothing to write about. It wasn’t like Hemingway-land. It was more geared toward parrots, bad shirts and rich eccentrics with long beards.
Albany is it. I’ll probably live here the rest of my life.
Besides, in Florida it was very hard to find clove cigarettes.
Q: If you could trade places with one writer, who would it be?
A: I’d love to be in the Renaissance era, when poets were rock stars. But if it had to be one person, it would probably be Baudelaire or Poe but hopefully with a happier life and a nicer mustache.
Since I was a kid, Poe has been one of those influences that’s been inescapable. His work, his stories, they’re phenomenal. He had an imagination like you wouldn’t believe. At the same time I wouldn’t want to end up in his shoes. He died alone, and nobody wants to die alone.
Q: What do words mean to you?
A: Words are powerful. Words make a difference. They can create and destroy. They can open doors and close doors. Words can create illusion or magic, love or destruction. … All those things.
Michael Eck, a freelance writer from Albany, is a frequent contributor to the Times Union.
****FACT BOX:****
Verse and a `Cigarette’
Here are excerpts from R.M. Engelhardt’s “The Last Cigarette”:
“THE LAST CIGARETTE”
I think of you tonight
As I smoke my last cigarette.
I inhale
And in the smoke
I see you
Disappear…
_____________
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A Review Of “Versus” By R.M. Engelhardt
“Versus” by R.M. Engelhardt
Friday, June 25th, 2010~
Reviewed By Lynn Alexander * Full Of Crow
“Versus”, R.M. Engelhardt
Pushing verses
Past their limits
R.M. Engelhardt acknowledges that there is a difference between the passive participant and those who live a passion-driven life, but can often be seen in “Versus” wondering if there is a difference in the end. Passion clearly perpetuates the creative imperative, manifest in poets like Engelhardt as non-negotiable, but to what end? There comes a time in the life of the poet where this question has to be dealt with. It is one thing to accept the terms of “the muse”. It is another to toil in the direction of some outcome, some goal. What, beyond that yielding and succumbing, is the poet desirous of? Fame, significance, appreciation, relevance?
The poet succumbs because he or she must, but it doesn’t end there. The poet is driven to more just as the living are driven to interact in this world beyond survival. We do more than eat and breed and sleep, there is something that pushes us. But why?
In the years that I have been aware of Engelhardt’s work, it is this willingness to examine these concerns head on and in a surprisingly candid manner that I think captures my interest the most in his work, which often gets into the problematic terrain of ego, and the ways that we relate to one another through not only our life’s work but through love and community. He states rather directly in “Versus” that poetry is dead, he comments on the state of popular culture and asks the obvious questions about the poet’s role in it. Why bother, and why persist?
Persistence, I think, is the theme in Engelhardt’s work that prompts people to characterize him as “romantic” as many of the poems convey a sense of pining, portraying people desirous not only of love but of transcendent relationships. “She believes in something unseen”, (8, “Perhaps”) “I’m just sick of passing romances”. (“In Cleopatra’s Eyes”, 9)
In ‘Versus”, we see that relationship between the speakers and both issues: wanting to do more than write, wanting to do have more than a date on a Saturday night. (“toys”, 6, “More than just another dance”, 2) This idea of wanting more, wanting to believe in and have faith in that but at the same time considering one’s observations and wanting to be rational.
Persistence then is challenged by cynicism, both inner and external:
“The time for poets has passed”
“And someone once told me that honest people don’t exist anymore in the 21st century”
“And someone once told me ‘That love…is dead.”
Do we persist, press on anyway? In “Naïve”, Engelhardt describes the urge to avoid the trainwreck. In “Truth” we see people opening boxes, digging through metaphorical “boxes” of expectations mingled with mythology. What happens when people confront truth? Some thrive, some perish, some vanish immediately in the sight of their realizations. This brings us back, again and again, to the questions in “Versus”. What are we after? And can we get there?
‘We all grow older/Still trying to find our way/Like children” (“Any Day Now”, 11)
Many poets grapple with a maturing phase not unlike the point around mid-life when one begins to really take stock about where to put energy, what to be concerned with and what to let go of. Some describe it much like finding their way, having gone through what some describe as a period similar to the honeymoon phase of a relationship. There are burdens in the poet’s world, choices about resources and time and energy and in the beginning there can be a sense of eventual payoff that in later years we learn can be quite elusive. There’s no denying that Engelhardt has love for the craft, but he pushes us to consider what that means, and to perhaps distinguish between the love of writing and the expectations. In some instances, the object of love can be easily interchangeable with “the muse” as both are subjects in these poems of that transcendent longing. The love that leaves for the man who promises everything, the “angel” who vanishes, the losses are connected: the poet wants to believe in more, wants to have faith in more, but life can be a series of losses, followed by grief.
Engelhardt closes “Versus” with a shout-out to those who persist, who don’t give up, who keep searching and don’t give in, who stay true to the realm of dreams.
A Review Of “Versus” By R.M. Engelhardt
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The 2011 Albany Wordfest~National Poetry Month
In celebration of National Poetry Month, Albany Poets is proud to
present the 2011 Albany Word Fest featuring the poetry,
spoken word, and music of upstate New York. This year’s event will
take place on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at The Linda
(339 Central Ave., Albany).
This year’s event is the 10th anniversary of the Albany Word Fest and with
that in mind, Albany Poets is promising big things.
Thom Francis, Albany Poets President, says, “When we started
this event ten years ago on a Saturday afternoon in Thatcher Park,
we never thought it would become one of the biggest ‘mark-your-
calendar’ events of each and every year. We are very proud of
how we have been able to continue hosting one of the biggest
poetry open mics in upstate New York for ten years.”
The 2011 Albany Word Fest will kick-off with the 12-Hour Open
Mic at 7:00AM at The Linda. Albany Poets Vice President
Mary Panza says, “After the success of the last two 12-hour open
mics, we have decided to do it again, but this time, during the day.
This will give poets a better opportunity to share their work and
also give the audience more time to appreciate the talent in the
poetry and spoken word community.” This open mic for poetry and
spoken word will be held from 7:00AM – 7:00PM.
Poets who wish to participate in the open mic can sign up online
by going to the Albany Word Fest website, www.albanywordfest.com
until 5:00pm on Friday, April 15. Performers will also have a limited
opportunity to sign up at the event itself. Each poet will have 10 -15
minutes to share their work. The open mic is open to all poets and
spoken word artists with no style or content restrictions.
After the Open Mic, starting at 7:00PM, the 2011 Albany Word Fest
brings the annual Psycho Cluster F*#k to the The
Linda featuring poetry, music and spoken word from upstate New
York artists David Fey, Olivia Quillio, Avery, Daniel Nester,
Poetyc Vyzyonz, Mother Judge’s Open Mic Showcase, Metroland’s
Best Poets of 2011: Mary Panza, R.M. Engelhardt, and KC Orcutt,
and much more.
Admission for this event is $10.00. Tickets will be available for purchase on
The Linda’s website and at the door on the day of the event. This event is
open to all ages ( 21+ with a picture ID required to drink).
The 2011 Albany Word Fest is sponsored by Albany Poets, McGeary’s,
The Linda, and the very generous donations of supporters of the arts
in upstate New York.
The 2011 Albany Wordfest~National Poetry Month
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A 21st Century Dirge For America
A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
DIRGE FOR AMERICA
Another dead song for a dead man
A dead art in no man’s land.
“CENSORED”
For Being REAL
As they stop the world,Judge and destroyall that which theycannot make
Or see.
FOR WE THE PEOPLE BELIEVE IN …
Anarchy Archery Douche-Beggary38 Flavors & Fifty Stars Officially
And nothing more.
For to say the least it’s yourApathy Banality AbsolutelyAn Analogy, Abruptly. America SoBlow MeFrom Sea to Shining Sea &Lovingly Bitterly Swallow Me
In Poverty
“Amen”
Or ? You can Literally Be, Continue In The Middle OrSee-Dream OfVespucci, Liberty With SymmetrySynchronicity or Being
True.
So Are We Truly Free?
Re-discovered or The Undiscovered CountryLand Of The BraveThat Has Never Truly Ever Seen
DEATH.
“Up-Close”
So America I ask you beg you Please;
To
Tax Me Take Me Fuck Me Love Me And Then Silently Leave Me
In The Dark.
But Please,Don’t Use Me, Tread On MeAbuse Me or Ever Break My Heart
“Again”
For NowLady Liberty is walking the streets & Looking To Make A Buck, & Is Saying “Heeeeeeeyyyy Chhhhiiiinnnna”
How Are You?
While, like an angry lover, Jealous, she watches your
EVERY
“Move”
And Domestically, MajesticallyAnd Carefully
She says ever so softly; PAY UP.
So,
Democrat Republican Soccer Mom White or BlackWelcome to the Homeland The Tea Party & The Land Of The Numb
WHERE WE THE PEOPLE, ONCE BELIEVED
Once …
BELIEVED
In This, This World
IN FREEDOM
And Not Merely
The Dead Sound, Dull Thud Of It,As It’s Soul Is Bleeding Out.
(Don’t Tread On Me)
________________
R.M. ENGELHARDT 2011
_________________
R.M. ENGELHARDT 