Performance Art

Last night was the monthly Poetry Night at Mama D's in Wales. These affairs have grown in size over time, and depending on the featured poet, there can be a problem finding a place to sit.

Well, last night we had a poet, Colleen Nehmer, who has quite a following. She had a number of fellow supporting poets come from Milwaukee to hear her read as well as reading their own stuff. It was the most eclectic gathering of personalities we've had there since I've been coordinating it.
Tim Kloss and The Fall of the House of Usher

I was surprised to see Ken Woodall there. Ken is a Milwaukee poet who I saw at a GIS Day event a few years back. I had a great chat with him and found out about his own poetry night at a coffee shop in Riverwest.

Then, there was a 16 year-old who'd never read her stuff in front of a group before. She nailed it and did it with confidence and conviction. Very cool.

But the capper on the night for me was watching Tim Kloss, a well known Milwaukee poet, recite the first several paragraphs of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher." He did it without reading a line, all from memory. It was nothing short of amazing. I admire people who can do that kind of thing, as I can barely memorize my PIN number for my debit card most days.

Like I've said before, these spoken art events, like sand art on a beach, are cool in that if you weren't there to experience it, you miss it forever. That's true of any concert or theater event as well. Being there when the energy is good, well, there's nothing better. So, I'm glad I was.

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