Here at the Mercury there’s an informal ban on poetry, but I’m going on record to say that poetry has never seemed so, well, cool before.

Last night I braved the crack heads under the Burnside Bridge to get to the Ohm Night Club for Harlem Nights. Backed up by the freestylin’ jazz group, the Black Notes, performers brandished fast-moving poetry at this newly re-vamped slam poetry event.

What really attracted my attention was the ambiance of cool—the clustered tables in a brick-wall basement setting, the jazz, the caliber of the slam poetry, which is at least half performance art.

You never know what these crazy cats are going to have up their sleeve—maybe a tap dancer will accompany their poem, or maybe a poet will break into soul just because she felt like it. Of course, you do see the occasional scrawny git who wants to expound on some better-off-private sexual fantasy.

If you’re looking for something fresh, Harlem Nights is held every Thursday at the Ohm Night Club at 9 p.m.

-Jennifer Furniss