strength in numbers

One of those times when the open mike readers bested the featured poet.

life stories

Many people want to write poetry only if they’re allowed to tell their life stories.

emcee bounce

The best open mike emcee I knew also worked as a bouncer at a blow-out bar down the street. He would cross his thick arms over his chest and make eye contact with a poet going over his time. The poet would stop mid-word and slink off the stage.

poetry's lowest life-form

The poet (usually a bad one) who reads at an open mike then leaves before the last reader has had his/her say.

wait for it

Often a single miracle is performed at an open mike.

the persauder

He could close the deal with one poem at an open mike.

sign of the times

The young poet came up to the open mike holding nothing. At first I thought she must be a slam poet who had committed her work to memory. Then she took out her iphone/droid and she started reading from the device.

via vox

He read often at open mikes, considering them form and venue for ephemeral aural publication.

bad company

At the open mike I fell in with a bad crowd.

limits of spoken word

Tough emcee: He once grabbed a skin-head poet by the short hairs and dragged the guy away from an open mike.

test drive

He took his new poem for a test drive at the local open mike.