https://www.facebook.com/Talonpoet

Poet Writer Albany NY
I SING OF THE BODY DISSECTED
So let us now all
Sing or if you believe
Pray
Not of these golden days
But in this dead choir of reprieve
Of anguish of suffering of days
Let us all sing of the 21st century
Of all our failures & the false
Triumphs & of the true progress
Of men
Unmade
Undone
Unseen
Watch &
See how we
So easily destroy
Ignore
Incite
Our own defeat
And on repeat
Like a bad news story
Like history
Still worship greed
And money
The holy dollar
And all the fat politicians
On all sides taking
Away what we once
Called ” Freedom”
As a quaint, dismembered idea
As wars are still waged
Poverty still a slave
We post all our success
Stories
But never our shame
As a dead earth
No longer of beauty
But of a violence unimagined
And obscene
Disgusting.
Weapons
Unimagined & unseen
The end of everything
The end
And the tragedy
The murder of all days
Like all the animals dying &
Loosing space
Oh how inconvenient
How 1980s
And Green
Our voices & our
Votes now all dead and
Useless worthless things
Without any real power for
Truth or change
Countries & governments
In decline still crumbling
And arguing, fighting
Killing over race
And over oil
A disgrace
A disfigurement a
World burning
Forests dying
No gods answering
No gods listening
No god here
Because
No god cares
Or listens
Anymore
This planet
This rock
Used up &
Separated
Dysfunctional
Diseased
Destroyed
With hate
With rage
Peace
Now just
Another trendy word
Forgotten
So for thee I Sing
Of this body
Dissected
Damaged by
Monsters & corrupt men
Fake patriots & grifters
Looking for trophies
And hiding behind a flag
And blaming
All other living beings
For everything
They’ve done
More convenience
More sorrow
More lies
The scapegoat
Followed by the
Image of the Tower card
Falling
As the seasons change
The leaves remain
But we never change
And never will
So for thee I Sing – Scream
For the impoverished
Families and their children starving
I Sing for the ignored
And uneducated the unemployed
And for all those
Guilty of being
Human beings
With hope
With dreams
With love
With faith
I sing for humanity
I sing for change
For Black lives
For all lives
For Suicides
And for all those buried
Beneath us in unmarked graves of
Unrest & genocide
And for all those who
Believe in a Jesus Christ
( Or not )
I Sing for
The Great Spirit
That once roamed
This land now a mere
Figment of imagination
Lost in the blood of
My ancestors
The flags all at half mast
Concealing the sadness
The truth
Of a nation
Once called America
Ashamed
I Sing of the body
The whole of the soul
Dissected
Diseased
Where Walt Whitman
Would now if alive
Weep over it’s reality
And in it’s sorrow
Walk away
Where Lincoln would
Crawl up into a ball
And simply
Choose to die
I Sing of A Nation of the
Body dissected
By cannibals
Who’ve erased all of
It’s glory
And where there
Is no honor, spark of
Democracy, decency
Or even electricity
Left
~ R.M. Engelhardt
©2022
THE COMMON MAN
The Common Man
Sits in the workplace
Breaks his back in
The factory & writes
Poetry
On the side
Doesn’t give
Two shits about
What the big wide world
Thinks too busy
To deal with those
Who have superiority
Complexes
Issues
& Destroys them
All with a mere
Sentence
Moves on
Keeps writing
The Common Man
Sees what is & what
Could be
Could’ve been
Celebrates
Life & freedom &
Lives in the moment
Doesn’t have time
To deal with other
Writers writing issues
Theories, speculations
Negativity, anger
And Just writes
Just lives
For himself &
Whoever with his words
Might find
Touch
Don’t like what he says?
Doesn’t matter
To him
He just writes
Just cares about
The voices in his
Head that say
“THIS”
Because he
Knows, realizes
That poetry is
Spiritual poetry is
That which is a part
Of the mystery
Of being human
Without compromise
Without explanation
Because
The Common Man
Or the Common Woman
Has more to say than
Those who cannot perceive
Cannot connect
From all walks of life
From all colors, religions
Places & souls
For these are the real voices
From the real world
In which we live
~ R.M. Engelhardt
©2022
Yes, and in fact, there’s a HUGE Poetry Scene and a Poetry Open Mic happening almost everywhere in the 518, Capital District area and that scene unknown to many has been going on for quite a few years. Decades in fact. This area’s writing and poetry scene is rich in its history & legacy and unless you’ve actually ever been to a local poetry open mic or event then you are missing out on something truly great which is area poets & writers sharing their words, voices, and work with others …
THE WORLD DOESN’T STOP
The world doesn’t stop
If you’re angry
The world doesn’t stop if
You’re old or tired
It doesn’t stop
Regardless of your love
Or humanity
The earth spins
Keeps turning despite
Your lack of conformity
Or caring, your belief or
A non belief in a God or
Charity against war or
Poverty
The world doesn’t stop
Even if someone pulls
The trigger or sets a church
On fire
You can love or not love
Live or stop living
Hope or not hope
Dream or stop dreaming
It’s all up to you
The choice is yours
And no one else
You can protest
Write endless songs or
Poems or be whoever
You want
But in the end?
The final verse
Falls upon us all
An act of infinite
Gesture or a passing
Without thought or
Voice
And the earth
Shall still carry on
Without you
The birds shall still
Chirp in morning light
& the trees shall still
Sway in the wind
And the world
Doesn’t stop
So the most you can do is
Write your name upon
The rocks
And leave your message
For the lost
With instructions
For a better world
And hope
They listen
~ R.M. Engelhardt ©2022
DMITRY WILD AT INVOCATION OF THE MUSE POETRY OPEN MIC
INVOCATION OF THE MUSE:
MONDAY JUNE 6TH With Our Featured Poet
DMITRY WILD ( Of Dmitry Wild & The Spells)
With HOUSES IN MOTION (Beats + Electronics)
ALBANY, NY’s OPEN MIC FOR POETS, WRITERS, POETRY & THE SPOKEN WORD AT LARK HALL!
*Join Us For Our Monthly Open Mic At
LARK HALL 351 Hudson Avenue , Albany NY
*7:30pm Sign Up
8pm StartTime
*$5.00 Donation Requested*
Sponsored By
DEAD MAN’S PRESS INK ALBANY NY
Hosted By R.M. Engelhardt
INVOCATION OF THE MUSE:
The Open Mic For Poets, Poetry & The
Spoken Word sponsored by Dead Man’s Press Ink is moving to Albany NY’s amazing venue Lark Hall located at 351 Hudson Avenue on Monday, April 4th 2022 kicking off National Poetry Month.
DeadMansPressInk & myself are excited to announce the return of The Poetry Open Mic which will as always be an all inclusive poetry mic for all where poets are welcome to share their work with others. Formerly held at the Fuzebox we are currently creating new events for them and will now continue to run our monthly First Friday One Performance Poet evening The Dead Man’s Press Spoken Word Showcase along with Albany’s Legendary Goth Darkwave Night HEX to follow as well as beforehand local bands & mixed media events supporting the Albany Music & Art scenes.
*So please join Us For Our First Open Mic at Lark Hall On MONDAY April 4th
*7:30pm SignUp*8PM Start Time
POETRY LIVES IN ALBANY NY !
Hosted By R.M. Engelhardt
See You There!
We live in destitute times wherein the gospel of greed and financial profit, not prophecy, answers our existential questions. The good poet, just as the prophet in days gone by, speaks to us in a language that jolts our memory and challenges our power of self-perception and imagination.
~ John Dewey
Of Spirit, Ash & Bone is the new book of poetry coming out soon and to be released by Dead Man’s Press Ink in 2022. Unlike my past work Spirit will be something different and unexpected yet still falling into the genre of pagan poetics as well as what could even be considered narrative & southern gothic. Also, the book will include a section of poems released in 2016 from my past book ” The Bones of Our Existence” which was only previously released on Kindle and are a series of pieces that were based on dystopian dreams that literally forced me to write the words & images down. Included in Spirit are also short narrative fables, stories which are based upon myth as well as what can only be called modern folklore for the 21st century. More News coming soon.
Best,
~ R.M. Engelhardt
Let’s be honest.
2021 was not the best of year’s for many of us with covid still rampant as well as for many of us still stuck working from home. But for me there were a few bright spots. Jai & I were able to create many new books for Poets & Authors at DeadMansPressInk & create a brand new open mic at The Fuzebox. One of the best moments for me was an interview with Jim Gilbert & Nippertown about my latest book ” We Rise Like Smoke Poems Psalms & Incantations Published by DeadMansPressInk. Dedicated to our girl, our cat Cordelia we lost in April. Life isn’t the same without her.
Best to you & yours in the coming New Year.
*****************
An interview with Jim Gilbert of Nippertown with poet R.M. Engelhardt about the Upstate New York Poetry Scene and about his new book ” We Rise Like Smoke Poems Psalms & Incantations” Published by DeadMansPressInk Now Available on Amazon 2021.
SOMETHING NEW IS COMING TO ALBANY NY.
INVOCATION OF THE MUSE:
An Open Mic For Poets, Poetry & The
Spoken Word.
DeadMansPressInk & myself are excited to announce the return of The Poetry Open Mic at the newly reopened FUZEBOX 12 Central Avenue, Albany NY.
*Join Us For Our First Open Mic On MONDAY November 1st 2021 At The FUZEBOX.
7:30pm SignUp*8PM Start $5.00 Donation Requested.
POETRY LIVES IN ALBANY NY !
Note:
Please bring a valid ID, a proof of vaccination, or a negative Covid-19 test from at least 72 hours. And whenever possible please wear a mask.
https://www.facebook.com/events/967632553787817/permalink/967632563787816/?sfnsn=mo