Last night at the Poetry Blast, I read the prose Haunted!
The climate of the night club is very supportive but nevertheless a public place where one stands all alone on a stage with one mic and one light squared on you. Everyone is instructed to give the poetics attention and this is guarded closely by the moderator the the forum. Even the back bar is shushed...to listen.
This is a deeply personal poem so I had no way of knowing how people would react. The audience seem almost set back...some voiced to me personally that it caused them to feel the pain and longing that I was expressing and allowed them to connect it to someone they had one loved and lost.
A young man asked, " I hope he didn't just up and leave you". He identified being hurt. I assured him that the lover in question had no choice, it was a matter of obligation and timing. He let me know that he enjoyed my work because it was real and close to the heart. He wasn't impressed expressing emotions for sensationalizing! It can get a bit rough with the foul language and r rated subject matter. Free speech is what it is!