Shut Up and Talk! (Jim)

What is this open mic crap?

I wanna be like open mic??

Wait.
I feel an opening.
And thank god
it’s not my fly –
‘n dunno why
‘n sometimes drowned out
by the coffee house poet’s pest,
the espresso machine,
but I am opening

I am opening windows in doors
in new places in my head
I never knew were there.
I am opening conduit to vibes
that rattle and shake
the timbers of what
I think I think I feel
what I used to think I feel
I think.

Am I more alive with a mic in my hand
and people in front of me?
Or is it that I’m more than me
when I’m with you
and you’re open and miccing
and we’re opening to each other.

Are you my poet sister,
my writer brother?
Does reciting make us family
or just a mob
incited by recited verse?

We all got here through a narrow passageway
and we’ll all mostly leave in a hearse,
but we’re here for now,
we’re sharing about what we’re caring
about whom we care and share
and rant about what’s fair
and what turns us on
before we’re gone,
the losses we’ve endured –
and it’s live it’s open
it’s here,
it’s the livin’, breathin’,
butt-puckered
gut twistin’
clammy armpits
sweaty palms
hands shakin’
knees-knockin’
tremolo in your voice
spoken goddamn word.

So come on up
this party’s never done –
I know you got a voice too –
know there’s things
lodged deep in you
that beg release,
so get your ass up here with us
and be (effing) heard.

–Jim Keller
December 29, 2005
Draft © J. Keller 2006 All rights reserved.