More than 20 contemporary North American poets recite, sing, and perform their work. Several also comment. Early in the film, Charles Bukowski talks about the energy of poets and of a poem. These poets are energetic performers, and their poems are meant to be heard. These poets are the children of Walt Whitman and of Charles Olson, incantatory and oratorical, radical, sometimes incorporating contemporary political imagery. Black Mountain poets, the Beats, minimalists like John Cage, the wordless Four Horsemen, Tom Waits, and others capture aspects of poets as troubadours 　　译文(2): 20多位当代北美诗人朗诵、歌唱和表演他们的作品。一些人也发表了评论。在影片的开头，查理·布考斯基谈到了诗人和诗歌的活力。这些诗人是充满活力的表演者，他们的诗歌就是为了让人们听到。这些诗人是沃尔特 · 惠特曼和查尔斯 · 奥尔森的孩子，他们口若悬河、雄辩激进，有时还融入了当代的政治意象。黑山诗人、垮掉派、像约翰 · 凯奇这样的极简主义者、无言的四骑士、汤姆 · 韦茨以及其他一些人都把诗人的某些方面描绘成行吟诗人