Last Friday we were at Shorecrest High School after-hours for "Coffeehouse," an open-mic put on by the school's literary journal Tattoo. It was our second time around, so we had a better idea of what to expect: the cafeteria was packed to the rafters. Seriously, Friday night and this is what the kids of today are up to? Near the end of intermission we were looking over the art gallery in the hall when this girl ran past us, calling to her friends, "Hurry, it's about to start again!" Which is the first time we've heard someone say that about an open-mic event when they weren't running away.

This year's theme was superheroes, and the kids wore costumes; we didn't recognize that many. There was a Robin. There were more than a few towel-cape superheroes, including the trumpet duo. The night closed with Corbin Bugni, who's a very real talent, and who can be heard over at the Youth Speaks Seattle site. Honestly, his intensity freaks us out a little; this year he was pissed off at pop culture's weaselly way of getting in front of you 24/7.

Just so you don't think we've taken leave of our critical faculties, not everything was superlative, even giving the kids a high-school handicap. There were too many love (or "I used to love you, you selfish rat bastard") poems--but to be fair, that's true of poetry in general. What struck us is how much this communal space could hold: a series of poems on dealing with someone with paranoid schizophrenia, a shaking-handed young man's attempt to redefine what drives him, a football player's dramatic monologue about who he really is, a two-fisted Ginsbergian howl about this teenaged life. No one flinched.

The Bush administration came under heavy fire in that last one, by Erin Dodge. The woman next to us said, "That's my daughter!" We smiled, and made a note to inform on both of them, you know, when the time is right. There were lighter moments, too. We can't remember Claire Matsunami's poem so we'll supply the one she wrote for Tattoo:

An Acrostic

C

Lazy

A

I

R

E

And Susanna Ryan (current MySpace hero and future SNL writer, once her adoption by Tina Fey goes through) read from her junior high diary, in which it is revealed she thought it unfair to label angles with the pejorative "obtuse." Also there was a tempestuous love affair we can't do justice to. (We tried, we couldn't. We know our limits.) It sounds like Kellogg beats the hell out of DeGrassi for entertainment value. Susanna, the Salon of Shame is waiting.