It is an exciting time to be in the pub. The last several weeks during Pretzels and PubTalk we have touched on “Change” — and we were not foreshadowing John Stewart leaving the Daily Show…so here it is….

At the end of the month, Claudia and I will be handing over the keys to the pub to the next generation of leadership behind the bar. Bjorn will be taking over running pub, while many of the faces that have become comfortable seeing on Tuesday and Thursday will be coming along side him and taking the pub to another level.

I have just a glimpse of some of the ideas that they are going to be working on and I have to say, we could not have passed this mantle on to a better group of people. We knew that though, because we have been very meticulous in who we invited to join the team — and their hearts and willingness to give and invest in the lives of our poets have proven them invaluable.

For me, the passing of the torch was inevitable. When we started the pub nearly four years ago, we decided it was about more than one personality and that it would take a team to accomplish what we set out to create.

On a personal level, the last year has been a hard one for me. Running the pub has taken its toll on my creativity and even my heart. There was a time when we had 150-174 poets on Tuesdays and I could read them all and never grow tired. Now it can be a struggle to read 30. It comes down to the obligation that I put on myself to read others and as the leader set the pace. This of course leads to frustration and when coupled with dealing with those that have rather unhappy personalities either through comments or email, it wears you down — and becomes more a job, than being fun. This is where I have found myself for the last year.

By not leading, it will free me up to invest in those that are interested in reciprocating, growing together, of engaging in conversation. It will also allow me to clean off my heart for others a bit.

I will still be joining in — maybe not every prompt, but I will be around enough that you won’t forget me. Smiles. I plan on writing just for fun more and experimenting with storytelling a bit more. You may see me guest hosting here or there around the net, but I don’t plan on starting anything new or leading anything for some time. I just want to be be a writer and supporter again.

It will be fun to be surprised and challenged again by prompts and to see where the team takes the pub in the coming years. While it has been challenging at times, I do appreciate all that we have shared on this journey to this point — I have made some amazing friends here at the pub.

I made Bjorn promise me one thing — no sappy goodbye poems. Ha. No one is dying. Claudia and I will still be around, just in different ways. Hey, we still have plenty of poetry to write.

Next week we will be celebrating the change over and the unveiling of where dVerse will be going from here. Like I said, I have only seen a glimpse of it, so I am excited and intrigued to see it all myself. See you out on the trail.

Much love, Brian