Ben Porter Lewis wins his first slam at the George Washington Slam at Penny Lane in Boulder, Colorado, the same year he becomes the first Denver Grand Slam champion.

In San Francisco, Milo quits the band, Brian Jonestown Massacre and moves to Lake Tahoe to write, ski and collect unemployment. From here, he travels to Europe, living for a month in Paris, sailing on a boat through the islands of Greece and up the South coast of Turkey with Belgian painter Genvieve Van der Wielen. He flies back to Los Angeles after an epic 2-month odyssey. Takes up residence in East Hollywood because it’s now too expensive in SF and LA is cheap.

Toby Hoffmann, studies hard in the 10th grade in Ravensburg, beginning to seriously write poetry.

Ben convinces Milo, who is philosophically opposed to art competition, to form the first Hollywood slam poetry team. Ben calls Marc Smith in Chicago to get the green light from Slampapi to create the poetry team. Ben explains to Milo that the populist slam format will ultimately elevate the poetic form. Milo reluctantly agrees. They take the team to Middletown, Connecticut for the National Slam. Chris Tannahill, Yvonne de la Vega, Nathan Green, and Ben being the principal poets with Milo managing the team and acting as alternate. Over 1000 people at the finals.

Wehwalt’s first appearance overseas as a slam poet at the Nuyorican Poet’s Café in NYC.

Wehwalt is crowned Slam Poetry champion of Germany.

The Onyx (now known as Nuyorican West) is tragically shut down losing its lease.

Wehwalt meets Toby Hoffmann at the slam in Friedrichshaffen. It is Toby’s first-ever slam. Wehwalt takes 2nd Place, Toby takes 3rd. Wehwalt is impressed with young Toby.

Wehwalt and Ben are reunited at the National Poetry Slam in Chicago. Ben and Regie Gibson offer Wehwalt a ride to New York to catch his flight back to Germany. During the car trip, the three discuss the future concept of putting together an international touring group of performance poets.

Ben meets Antoine “TO” Faure in Paris at the Abracadabra Club in Paris. Ben asks TO for rolling papers and they immediately launch into conversation, exchanging numbers and information.

Wehwalt forms POESIE UNITED, inviting American slam poets Ben Porter Lewis and Regie Gibson to join German poets, Toby Hoffmann and Timo Brunke for an internationally-diverse spoken word tour to take place in the Spring. At the last minute, Regie Gibson is unable to leave the United States for legal reasons. Milo is selected for the pool on Ben’s recommendation. Milo is chosen by the German and Croatian Arts Councils to be the fifth member of the international spoken word group. The tour dates consist of shows in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Serbia and Croatia.

Milo meets Wehwalt and Timo for the first time in Konstanz. There is instant bonding between Wehwalt and Milo as they discover they are largely Language poets and Dada enthusiasts. They do their first show together the very night that Milo arrives in Europe, sans Toby, who will join the group on the way to Belgrade. For the first time, Milo experiences the European spoken word scene to a full house in Konstanz and is astounded by Timo and Wehwalt, with their shrill, rapid-fire poems of passion, in German and the sheer reverence for poetry shown by the crowd. It also marks the reunion of Ben and Milo as a team, who have not worked together on a project since 2001 in Los Angeles. Timo will not make the next leg of the trip to the Balkans as he has prior poetic obligations in Stuttgart.

Toby joins the tour on the train to Belgrade where he meets Ben and Milo. All four hit it off famously and drink beer and smoke hash and speak excitedly. Toby and Milo realize that they both venerate the Beats, the Melvins and Iggy Pop. An idyllic afternoon on the train ensues through the sun-lit fields of Hungary. The brotherhood has formed.

Stopped at the Serbian Border Control, Toby is pressed for his international passport. He offers his German ID which the police deny, telling him he is no longer in the EU. After a half an hour of arguing between the border guards and POESIE UNITED, Toby is taken off the train in tears. He is also holding the hash. The mission put forth by Captain Wehwalt: go back to Budapest, get a temporary passport from the German Consulate and jump the next train to Belgrade for the show tomorrow night. And be strong.

Toby is held at the border station in the middle of nowhere for the next six hours, whereupon he catches the next train, backtracking another six hours to Budapest, finding the consulate in the morning with no sleep, getting issued a passport after much trouble and rigamarole, hopping the next train to Belgrade, all with the hash intact, for another 10 hour ride.

Toby makes it to Belgrade 20 minutes before show time. He is bleary-eyed but the team has rejoined through the first adversity. And in time for the first POESIE UNITED show together in its current configuration.

A thick strange energy emerges from the student union wherein two warring nationalist gang factions in Fubu sweat gear begin to hurl insults at POESIE UNITED calling them “professionals” for knowing that they will be paid tonight for doing their poetry. Wehwalt, not taking any shit from anyone, stands up on a chair and moons the hecklers. A full-on riot breaks out after one of the rival gang members coldcocks another and the venue turns to chaos with chairs being thrown and the police called in, a number of people hurt. POESIE UNITED escapes unscathed to drink all night in non-electricitied bunkers in Belgrade, guests of the Belgraders, who feel bad for the incident therefore treating them to numerous shots of Becherovka. The next afternoon, terribly hungover, they read at the Serbian National Library, where the local press will ask them about the riot and its implications the night before. “Self-expression,” POESIE UNITED is quoted, “it’s about the expression of self. And these selves are hurting… 15 years of sanctions, high unemployment, teen alcoholism and poverty rates, living amidst rubble, no wonder they want to throw stuff…” Their interview and performance is aired on Serbian National television.

The first tour proves successful, the group playing to both big crowds and medium/small crowds, meeting many foreign poets and organisers along the way and making many literary contacts for the future. Timo makes a few gigs but essentially the group proves to be Wehwalt, Milo, Ben and Toby.

The day that Milo returns back to California from Europe, he receives his Master’s degree at USC in a graduation ceremony of 40,000 people.

Between the second and third tours (the third tour scheduled for Spring/Summer 2005), Wehwalt proposes that TO be added to the group. They have been in contact since the last tour. There is unanimous approval and TO signs on officially. Up to this point, all the performances have been individual and without accompaniment. It is proposed at this point that group and musical pieces be incorporated into the 90-minute set.
Milo is the only member of the group not to have been previously crowned a slam champion or for that matter, never having ever placed first in a slam. Many second place finishes though. Between Wehwalt, TO, Ben, and Toby, they have a cumulative 400 slam wins under their collective belt. Wehwalt often mentions to Milo that “the best poet never wins…”

Ben moves to Paris. POESIE UNITED does a few shows in Europe without Milo who stays behind in Los Angeles, undergoing mending of a broken heart and financial troubles.

Milo organizes a 10-year ONYX reunion. Later that year John Leetch, arts advocate, ex-pat Brit bohemian, and proprietor of the ONYX takes his own life.

Wehwalt arranges and manages a Milo solo tour which takes him through Germany and Switzerland for 20 dates. Milo does shows with Wehwalt, TO, Toby and the Roaring 420s (a Dresden band) along the way.

Milo hosts a monthly poetry reading at the Neutra Gallery with Jerry the Priest.

Rumors of a possible PU reunion surface but are quickly put to rest in the wake of the pandemic.

Milo has casual contact with all members except for Wehwalt who still remains underground. There are no plans for a reunion tour.

To this day, POESIE UNITED is the only international poetry ensemble in the world to tour extensively to great acclaim, to record, and to perform group pieces in three different languages.