Poetry Live(s)

Spoken word poetry (which is often more “spoken word” than “poetry”) is the subject of filmmaker Mark Freeman's brief performance/interview documentary Poetry Live(s), featuring eight poets captured live at the La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas, CA. Teacher Michael Flam's “Flojo” is a humorous ode to the lazybones personality (“slackers unite…tomorrow”), Ant Black's meditation on abortion “Alone” takes the form of a father imagining the future life of his unborn child, Corey Taft's “Sex Don't Mean Sex” argues that “making love” can also entail couples simply having fun experiences together, Shana Marion's “Domesticated Artist” notes that “starving artist is a concept that works so well in fiction,” and Al Howard's “Prior to Addressing” zeroes in on the Iraq debacle. In the interwoven interview excerpts, Klam notes that despite the theme of his “Flojo” poem, “now's not the best time to kick it” and has the final word on the poet's mission to become “adventurers through our day, and see in every moment…something new, something bright, something challenging, something to make us think, to live a little better.” Wise words, indeed. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)