All In-Tro

At open mics, performers usually do short introductions for their song (or poems). The intros tend to either be “good but boring” or “terrible but interesting.” One night a poet began with a “heart to heart” announcement that he had just inherited a house in Italy, was moving there, and asked us all to join him. The emotional announcement exhausted his time limit, so he didn’t get to read any poetry, but afterwards, we all retired to our usual haunt, a karaoke bar, to discuss it. Someone said it was crap. He had inherited land only, no house, with taxes owed anyway, so it was a wash. Someone else suggested we could pitch tents on the land, and wondered if he’d pay part of travel. A women said she would never tent in Italy! At that point, our karaoke friend scolded us for lack of attention, bad singing and reminded us he needed support, as he pursued his professional karaoke dreams. That open mic soon disbanded, however, I sometimes imagine a poet, in a tent, on the Italian countryside, composing the next great verse, by lamplight.