NICKOLE BROWN and GENE BLOOM—April 7, 2008

After a prolonged open mic, the main readers took to the mic. Nickole Brown, who drove all the way up from San Francisco for the evening, during her West Coast swing read from her book entitled Sister.


Nickole Brown

Nickole read "Footling," "How She Conceived," "1979" [3:46], "A cup of Anything," "Jessica Myers in the Corn," "The Smell of Snake," Speak and Spell," "How to Forgive"[1:33] and "Invitation."


Gene Bloom

Gene Bloom did not fail to satisfy the regulars who attended his reading; however, his range did not fully present itself. Gene read a mix of his Bukowskian-tinged erotica and other assorted scatolological musings. He read one poem that was earnestly dedicated to a woman, and he also read a poem about seeing a man at the track who had "Bukowski" on his license plate entitled "A Day at the Races".The other poems featured Bloom's take on the erotic and his unique brand of scatological cant.

A special highlight of the evening during the open mic was Indigo Moor's reading of "Another Man's Bed" [2:17] about the great Bluesman Robert Johnson's penchant for sleeping in another man's bed.