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Hey, it's harder than it looks. See for yourself during the Alameda Free Library Haiku Contest, during which Alamedans are encouraged to submit haiku poems with visual interpretation, including drawings, paintings and collages.

NOTHING TOPS the energy and connection of a live performance. The same holds for live poetry readings, says Patti Itano of the Alameda Free Library. \"A poetry reading is much like the experience of attending a concert or a play,\" says Itano. \"The experience is unmediated by TV, radio, Internet or cell phones. You're pushing that stuff away and getting to the essential experience, author-to- listener. You slow down and give it your full attention.\" Poetry newcomers and veterans can hear, see and feel the energy themselves at a poetry reading Feb. 5, 7 p.m., at the Interim Main Library, 2200-A Central Ave. The featured poets, Forrest Hamer and Tricia Caspers, offer an interesting contrast, says Itano. Hamer has many published works while Caspers is seen as the up-and-coming poet. Their styles also differ. \"Tricia has a somewhat edgier feeling in her poetry. But there's a great personal feeling you get with Forrest from his refined ability to get in touch with individual moments, both present and past, and turn them into a poem,\" says Itano.