The Poets

Honey B. Honest is a multifaceted visual and performance artist from Denver Colorado. She's been a host and organizer at Mercury Cafe's Sunday night open mic and slam, as well as partnered with organizations that aim to offer artistic opportunities to communities in need such as The Gathering Place, Redline Art Gallery, Art Restart and Boulevard One. Many describe her performances as eccen...

Photographer turned poet turned essayist turned overall annoyance, Stone (they/them) explores themes of sobriety, queerness, and self love. Their works appear in publications such as Gnashing Teeth, Red Rose Thorns Journal, and have been featured on Button Poetry. Currently, they are editor in chief of Retrograde Review, an online zine dedicated to change.  They reside in Denver, but you can find...

Ally Eden (she/they) is a queer artist and former Poet Laureate of Fort Collins, Colorado. An English/Spanish interpreter by trade, their role as a linguist parallels their poetic ethos— bridging difference by way of words. Ally’s work is vibrant, unabashedly poignant, and rooted in love for humanity. In her approach to art as a practice, she strives to curate participatory experiences that offer...

My name is Dominick I go by Dom. I been in Colorado for five years and looking forward to the next 10-15 years here. I’m madly in love with the city of Denver. I’m a poet that stumbled into literary art. The goal is to a raise a daughter and retire my mom. I’m here for the city and like everybody else serving a purpose I want to be used not misused. Write on!  Find Dominick on: Medium Youtube Inst...

In this episode recent guest Philip Tran returns for a part 2 of the long goodbye to the Mercury Cafe. Last time, we announced Waning Mercury, Waxing Pearl, a live recorded send off for the legendary venue. That event can be listened to in its 3+ hour entirety on episodes 125-127. On this episode, Philip returns to discuss moving forward now that the Mercury Cafe has been re-christened as The Pear...

Holly Ajala (also known as TheGoodSis) is a writer and storyteller with a fierce belief in the power of effective narrative to inspire empathy in the face of difference, to propel the reach of social justice and above all, to challenge human beings to be more human. Her words have been featured in Ayo Magazine, AfriWowWri Literary Journal and more. Holly truly believes that good stories can change...

Carly Liberi (she/her) is a queer poet, depth therapist, and oracle reader. Her work is a conch shell to the ear of those who feel too much, for the parts of ourselves we’re still learning to love, and for those whose voices have been silenced. Embracing life’s mysteries, Carly creates in the liberated space between anything and everything. Hallway Birdsong Queer not Quiet Sensitive Full Heart on...

Part 3 of the Friday night open mic poetry event at the Mercury Cafe. Recorded March 28th, 2025 by ⁠Coven Recording and Sound⁠ . This was the last night that this Friday night poetry open mic, one of the longest continuously running in the world, occurred under the legendary venue name Mercury Cafe. Special thanks to Philip Tran for commissioning this recording, assisting with the editing/organiza...

Part 2 of the Friday night open mic poetry event at the Mercury Cafe. Recorded March 28th, 2025 by ⁠Coven Recording and Sound⁠ . This was the last night that this Friday night poetry open mic, one of the longest continuously running in the world, occurred under the legendary venue name Mercury Cafe. Special thanks to Philip Tran for commissioning this recording, assisting with the editing/organiza...

Part 1 of the Friday night open mic poetry event at the Mercury Cafe. Recorded March 28th, 2025 by Coven Recording and Sound . This was the last night that this Friday night poetry open mic, one of the longest continuously running in the world, occurred under the legendary venue name Mercury Cafe. Special thanks to Philip Tran for commissioning this recording, assisting with the editing/organizati...

Lolita Vilar is a young poet who writes in prose, with a flair for abstract metaphor. Her poetry focuses on the magical, the mundane, and the music of our world.

Philip Tran is a poet of many mediums—words, collage, and the ephemeral art of live performance. Hailing from Denver, he is a passport-wielding wanderer, a florist with an eye for beauty, a handyman with a poet’s touch, a roller skater chasing rhythm, and an emcee who curates spaces where voices rise and resonate. As the longtime host of Denver’s beloved 4th Friday poetry open mic—formerly at The...

Racine Muse and iLL bg join return to the show to discuss their EP, Both of Everything. We talk about the collaborative process, their workflow, inspirations, and themes of the music. This episode also includes performances of three songs from the album, recorded in studio. You can listen to the EP here .

Follow Nikolai on  ⁠IG⁠  @thenikolairiddle and at his  ⁠website⁠ . Nikolai Riddle is a born-and-raised Coloradan, writer, poet, and sometimes artist living in Denver. His writing has been described as “diabolical” and often involves things weird, dystopian, and darkly humorous. His work has appeared in Ludicrous Worlds Magazine, Birdy Magazine, and The American Journal of Poetry. Haiku 21 Paranoia...

Local artist and art enthusiast, Jabe Pazoo.

Marissa Forbes (she/her) is a Pushcart Prize nominated author, visual artist, and creative instructor. Her poetry books, Surviving Peter Pan (Beyond the Veil Press) and Brief & Bleeding Margins (World Stage Press) were published in 2023. Other published poems and short fiction stories can be read on  marissaforbes.com  and @word_nerd_ris. She is the Managing Editor for Twenty Bellows, a CO ind...

Bardo is a feral rat that experiences moments of clarity and in that clarity writes pretty decent poems. -- Correction: I said in the episode that this is ep 119. Obviously it is ep 118 (see above). "What, do you expect me to keep track of my own show?" Mitch

Cecily Stone is a mother, writer, computer nerd, and author of  These Chasms in the Earth.   Her works have appeared in  Welcoming The Muse  (Twenty Bellows) , Poems in Praise of Libraries  (World Stage Press),  Gypsophila Literary Magazine, Canvas Creative Arts Magazine  (Indiana University),  Retrograde Review,  and on a set of compost liners distributed by Compost Colorado.  Stone shares her st...

Guest host Moses Graytower, of Congress fame, interviews Viviantte aka Dell Allenn and Yasser Govula. They discuss making the art you want to make, finding fulfillment, music, and respecting those who came before you. Check out Viviantte's album Lucy and Moses Graytower's album Congress as well as Dell and Yasser's project gardeniia, an unadulterated publication. @mosesgraytower @della...

…rendering poetry more entertaining to general audiences. One of Colorado’s best known performance poets, SETH has made a career carving out creative ways of presenting poetry, with attention paid to both craft and performance. An actor and percussionist as well as a poet and fiction writer, SETH has collaborated with countless musicians, poets, actors, dancers and other performance artists for mo...

Just keep swimming  Nyx C — Mitch here. Heads up that for a lot of this episode—basically all of it—Nyx and I discuss our experiences growing up in and leaving the LDS church (Mormons). We hit on some heavy topics, and we express our unedited thoughts and feelings about the kind of abuses of power that, again and again, are seen as direct results of organized religion. I speak only for myself here...

In the red corner, weighing in at 80 Serbian Kilos, the champion of humor and heartache, a Poet who’s never afraid to throw a punchline—ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Sasha “Max Jaw” T.! He writes short stories, comedy, poetry, film reviews, and draws comics like a pro. The northwestern sky, just after sunset, is his favorite. He’s got a knack for expression in verse and always spells “Love”...

Girl “i have a haiku about this” Harbor is a poet now based in Chattanooga, TN. Girl Harbor is not sad. Any small thing in life will likely fill her with great joy. In this episode, you will hear her write out many of her issues, but you should know she’s just happy to be here. Girl Harbor loves to sing, write, meet new folks, and hang out with old friends. A dabbler at the core, she can tell you...

Photo to come! (I forgot to ask Ira for one and am scheduling this to post late at night, sorry) For almost 40 years, Ira Liss has performed as actor, improviser, pianist, singer, songwriter, show host, interviewer, performance poet, entertainer and more. He began his onstage career in NYC, doing standup comedy, singing his original songs at cabaret venues, joining  several theater improv companie...

MWB (Mark Boczar) is a poet seeking to understand, and in the process, be understood. His work explores themes of love, identity, resilience, and the beauty to be found in every person, place & experience. Drawing inspiration from living remotely while traveling the United States and the rich tapestry of human emotion, his poetry blends his optimism for growing into the humans we are called to...