Posted 7:32 PM by Bonnie

Open Mic Night! What an amazing night! We had a low turnout but the combination of poets and spectators made for an inspiring night! Colette Jones was able to join us for part of the night, much to the delight of the rest of the group. She has always been an open mic favorite and we've truly missed her the past couple of months. Always remarkable and fun, Aaron Johnson, brought a mix of humor and thought provoking poetry to share. The surprise of the night was a young man from Bates Highschool. As the night wore on I kept forgetting this young man was only 17! Jamar White is one of those people you can give a word, a line, a topic, and he can adlib and impromtu poem on the spot. And each challenge was met brilliance! His ability to do this is impressive to say the least, and to come up with a great poem each time is amazing! Jamar, get that tape recorder and start recording these poems so they are not lost! One thing he did last night was after I read my poem, Final Breath, with my last sentence he picked up the poems and continued it into a poem of his own final breath. As I said this young man is amazing.

Last night was what I had envisioned when I started these open mics a year ago, this coming June. It was not only poets sharing their poems, but an exchange of thoughts about the poems, discussions of how people felt about the poems. One thing I have always believe in is each poet has a right to his or her feelings and the right to express those feelings (as long as they aren't hateful and hurtful), so whether I agree or disagree with the content is not an issue with me. I listen for the quality of the writing and expression of delivery. And last night did not disappoint in any way!

Now onto the sad news! You all know I've been having all sorts of issues with my computer! Well, now the A drive won't read my floppies so I can't even post the pictures. This computer is driving me nuts with all the problems it's been having lately! I've been too sick to even think about carting it back to the computer repair shop, but I think next Monday I will be on their doorstep again. Right now I have more of a hate relationship with computers than a love one! Hopefully I will have things fixed by next week and I can add some pics. Grrrrr!!!!