First, there were fish & chips and some very tasty Hefferveisen (sp?) with slices of orange, all at the very swank and comfortable 1515 Restaurant.
And then, after some struggling and consternating with the microphone, there was stellar performance after stellar performance by some very fine writers:
Mike Henry recited a poem or two about beer, the Buffalo Sabres, and bike chains;
Mark Irwin followed up with a gorgeous memory of a boy, some newspapers, and a first act of deception;
Jake York wowed us with a lyrical journey into the landscape of the south and the lack of rememberence;
Rebecca Berg's musical sentences blended with a voice of tenderness--and a homemade flute;
Jennifer Itell made us laugh (and cry, but in a good way) over the stresses of new motherhood and the odd visage of little-old-lady stalkers;
and David Rothman brought us home with a recitation of 17+ "guy walks into a bar" jokes, all as prelude to a short poem where they all appear (penguin, bear, priest, and 12-inch pianist included) and drink their fill.
Hope to see you at future goings-on.
--MJH