Leonard “Lenny Twin” Bell, creator of the Say What! Poetry open mic nights, has had the experience of changing a life and touching a soul with just his words.

One evening after Bell read a poem at Say What!, a man he had never met came up to him and thanked him for his words.

“He said he was going to kill himself, but changed his mind after hearing my poem,” says Bell, an ISU alumnus.

Bell says he read two personal poems that night which touched the life of the man.

“One of the poems I wrote was how I was unsure about the world, but felt like I had the ability to turn it around,” Bell says.

The show began in February 2004 and is held about once a month. It offers many artistic ways to express oneself, poetry being the main event.

Since Say What! began, Bell says the show has grown in participation and has evolved into a family.

“You never know what’s going to happen at Say What!,” Bell says.

Bell says Say What! is an emotional roller coaster that runs throughout the evening.

“We’ll go from dancers performing, to sad poems, to me crackin’ a joke,” Bell says.

Tobi Simmons, a Des Moines resident and a Say What! regular, writes mainly about love, family and the environment or other issues she says she feels strongly about.

“One of my favorite things about performing at Say What! is that it is so laid back,” Simmons says.

Simmons says the people who attend are close to her age, 28, which allows them to relate more and connect.

Bell says he tries to create a relaxed environment, without pressure for the performers.

“We try to be as laid back as possible, we don’t force people to come up and perform if they don’t want to,” Bell says.

Bell says that people will always have that nervous feeling before they get on stage, but the audience is always accepting of any of the talents someone has to offer

Simmons describes Say What! as being cozy, with candles and music between sets.

This setting is where disc jockey Todd “Tilvis Durden” Etheridge works his magic.

“I play everything from old funk and soul music to underground hip-hop and even some rock sometimes,” says Etheridge, another ISU alumnus.

One of the goals of Say What! is to play underground music that is less familiar to the public, Bell says.

“We try to cover the ground for everyone and try to be as multi-ethnic as possible and open people up to new types of music,” Etheridge says.

Aside from DJs playing in between poetry sets, there are also singers and a floor for dancers.

Bell describes Say What! as a real situation, saying it is not the same as going to the movies and seeing a fictional story played out.

“This is real — it’s our lives,” Bell says.

Bell takes pride in that Say What! is not about who is better or who is worse.

“It’s not a competition; it’s just performing,” Bell says.

But before deciding to venture out to Say What!, Bell says there are three rules one must obey.

“The first rule is to have fun. The second is that it’s OK to laugh or cry, be upset or be happy. And the third rule is when I get up to introduce the next poet, you say ‘Say What!.'”