Steve Baratta, who was a regular at SoCal open-mike readings in the 90s and 2000s (chiefly the various Poetic License readings hosted by Larry Jaffe and the late Donn Deedon--plus the Midnight Special Bookstore reading in Santa Monica, among others), passed away at the age of 61 this past weekend from a blood clot prior to having surgery for a heart condition. In recent years, Steve was active on Internet radio hosting the Monday show OPEN WINDOWS for KillRadio.orgSteve was idealistic and believed in positive change to benefit the world.Here are a few of his poems: