No thank you.

You expect people to pay to get into the Mel on a Wednesday night for an angst-filled poetry reading?

Snort snort

(can't hold it any longer...)

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Gonna have bongos?

Tell ya what, for 3 bucks there better be free overripe tomatoes. Now THATS audience participation.

I will however, be happy to pay $1.50 to see a limerick contest.

I'll tell you what...if you want bongos, bring 'em. we'll work them into the audience and provided you can keep them to in between poets' readings, you can play them. the idea is to make it audience participatory. if i could get away with having free overripe vegetables (without the Board of Health showing up), i would. Again, audience participatory. But seriously, these poets are the best this city has to offer. Aren't any of you tired of seeing other cities be known as cosmopolitan centers? We have all of those things here but we can't get anyone to come out and support it. Wait, I see...you want to sit at home and watch reality tv on wednesday night or better yet, go to the Living Room Lounge and drink until you find someone to talk to about nothing interesting anyway. If you come,great...if not...great...we'll still slam and we'll have a great time. with or without you. thank you.

So how many people showed up?

We had a great turn out. Our good friend, DJ Shiva hosted and let yours truly slam for a change up in the normalcy. It was an intimate crowd. Good vibes all around. You should have been there.

So, do you think you can report the winners each month, and spread some of the fame?

most definitely. Nsaychable, after retaining the championship title for three months straight, has returned to remind all of us hackneyed poets that we need to let some of these young folks get some of the limelight. She retained her title and as usual, put on a heck of a performance with her eclectic mix of neo-soul, classic rhyme and street savvy while peppering it with the kind of in-kind karma that keeps all of us writing. her slam style is on point with Patricia Smith, Nikki Giovanni and Sonia Sanchez bullets of influence and each time, she takes the stage, we're wowed beyond wowstivity. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for her. she'll be around for a while. That is if some city like Chicago or New York doesn't swoop in and steal her from us.