This film profiles five contemporary American performance poets who have taken their poetry and its celebration of language and creative expression into new public venues. Each of these widely-published and critically acclaimed poets discuss their work and perform before live audiences, including the freewheeling linguistic flights of Gerald Locklin, the feminist expressions of Lyn Lifshin, the working-class poems of Michael Basinski, the bleak and often disturbing images of Jeff Filipski, and the comedic stylings of the "Health and Beauty" duo of Richard Scott and Thom Metzger.