[Terese Coe]

We rocked the Palazzo! How often can one say that?

With its impressive soaring ceilings and the finest of hand-carved architectural details and workmanship inside and out, the Montauk Club (completed 1891) is a fairy-tale Venetian Gothic edifice in every way. The upper floors with the fabulous pink exterior walls are now private apartments. (To die for, I'll bet.)

The magnificent antique grandfather clock could not get the better of Chris, and he sailed right through the chimes when suddenly interrupted mid-poem. I lucked out: the chimes hit when I was mid-comment, so I waited them out. When they hit a second time (presumably mng 15 minutes later), I knew I was running out of time, so they do have an actual function. We might even say a traditional function, though poetry readings might not have occurred to Mr. Francis Kimball himself. Of course, when you're reading to a crowd, it's kind of hard to believe 15 minutes went by so fast (you still have more time though).

Besides the estimable Dan and Walter, about 20 friends and colleagues showed up, including seven who came out for Tex-Mex after the reading. It was great to see them and one of my friends took photos, but I haven't rec'd them yet. I will post them on fb for friends, and I don't (yet) know if she wants them on a public site. I saw them on her cell phone and they looked good.

Chris was as funny and scandalous as ever (that will never change!) and in addition did a charming lyrical poem about catalpa trees that I loved. (They're a fave of mine too, Chris!) I thought I’d go with the flow and did satirical or subversively ironic poems as well, and we both had a blast! The crowd had smiles on their faces and, as in almost all Open mics, the poems varied and some were very striking. Host, poet, and general Renaissance man Harvey Soss volunteered his talents with a wrench on some repair the building needed (!), and consequently his generous nature in rescuing the edifice resulted in a slightly late start, but we were all busy with friends so we hardly noticed. The reading continued longer than it would have otherwise, and it was all Palazzo-perfecto!