First Monday Spoken Word Open Mic Night is a monthly gathering of writers, poets, essayists and creatives. We meet at the Ada Public Library at 6 p.m. on the first Monday of each month.

The August 2026 featured reader was Scissortail Creative Writing Festival author Peter Biles.

Midnight

by the Grimy Chap with the Ill-Fitting Trousers

I write by the light of a kerosene hurricane lap, one that I had given to my parents as a Christmas gift, then repossessed after Mom died in 2009. The cool night air blows the grass and the leaves in the yard, the pages in my hand, the flame that flickers and threatens to leave me in the dark.

Another Midnight

By That One Guy with the Big Forehead

Trees that I planted 20 years ago tower above my front yard, full of the chatter of tree frogs and crickets.

The reason I am out here, waxing and waning in the dark, is very straightforward: I need to watch less television.

The children all smiled as they devoured their Terms of Endearment Brand™ Broken Philip Glass Executive Action Proprietary Lozenges.

“Richard,” Thea said. “The way your hair looks. You look so … vulnerable.”

Another Midnight

by the Alfalfa County Crack Whore

I watch the wick in the lantern get dimmer and dimmer as it consumes the last kerosene fumes.

The story it tells is a little too obvious: we are all growing dimmer as we consume the fuel of our lives.

Am I frightened? Am I depressed? Am I slowly not caring?

I take a deep breath and let it out just as the wick turns amber, then grey, then black.