Event Recap and Photos from our Untitled Open Mic ft Tom Laughlin | 11.16.22

The night was dominated (numerically, not psychologically) by Middlesex College as a number of students and faculty from the school turned out for Tom Laughlin’s feature. So many stepped up for the open mic for their first time that we were almost continually chanting “Please Come Back!” We also had old friend McKendy Fils-Aime drop in with his own version of “Superstition” (any resemblance to Stevie Wonder’s is purely coincidental). Nikolai did what may be their last poem for a while, since they are being deployed overseas to an undisclosed location, which made one line particularly poignant: “Are you lonely now that I’m leaving you alone?” Rikhav did a Mill City Speaks workshop poem (“The beauty of existence spells its own alphabet”), and Ricky kept the old timers happy and nostalgic with a reprise of his (“old shit!”) poem for Blues Clues.

 Then Tom Laughlin took the mic and read out of his new book, The Rest of the Way. He exemplified the title of one of the poems, “Dendrophile,” which comes out of his love for trees and a boyhood memory, by giving us multiple nature poems, taking us in and around his relationship with the wild world – and especially Walden Pond. He proved his poetry chops by reading a piece by Mary Oliver, “The Summer Day,” and then following with a reply poem of his own, “The Late Summer Day.” It was both erudite and engaging. If you want to find out more and/or get a copy of his book, check out his website at tomlaughlinpoet.com.