Think back hard to English 101, think about all the great wordsmiths you learned about – Poe, Neruda…Tupac.

Tupac?

All right, maybe not Tupac, but that’s why Vegas exists – to give you a new education and a different view of things. And one of the Strip’s newest clubs is all set to drop some knowledge on you.

At Poetry, inside the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, it’s every party you enjoyed in college jumbled up with every lecture you actually stayed awake through and paid attention to.

Taking the place of OPM nightclub, Poetry doesn’t take its name lightly, in fact, it takes it quite literally.

Decked out like "the devil’s mansion," the club, which bills itself as the place to go for upscale hip-hop on the Las Vegas Strip, shows off the literary side of the genre, with quotes from Poe and Tupac (and all the good ones in between) plastered in a fancy, cursive font on every surface, including napkins.

Poetry’s décor is something out of a Poe poem itself, all dark colors and gothic lighting. Swarovski crystal adorns the chandeliers and murals of beautiful women watch over all the sultry action.

A giant mirror greets guests as they head up the regal staircase into the club and if you stand at just the right spot on the stairs, the mirror reflects the mosaic covering the ceiling, which adds to the dark sexiness of it all.

It’s a club and it’s Sin City, so there’s a VIP area. But unlike other venues in town, the area is accessible, so when celebrity guests come into town, like Nikki Ziering or Carmen Electra, it’s more like you’re partying with them, instead of just in the same club.

If you’ve got the coin to be one of those VIPs yourself, take a look at the poetry book left on your table. At the very least, it’ll give you some names to drop into a conversation with that cutie at the bar later on (there are four bars in the place, so if you mispronounce Tennyson on the first try, just head over to a different bar and give it another shot).

Video monitors scattered throughout the club flicker club-appropriate images, so it’s not unusual to look up and see something straight out of a dark and stormy night.

Off to the side of the staircase is Poetry’s "Hall of Trees," a hallway accented with - what else - trees. Little tables and a little distance from the dance floor go a long way toward making this easily the most romantic spot in the club.

It sounds like a lot going on, right? That’s pretty much how they want it.

"There’s so many different elements," said Kim Pham, in charge of diplomatic relations for the club, "It’s whole different clubs in one [place]."

If you’re not sure how Poetry broke onto the scene without you noticing, it’s because Poetry is actually that old Sin City favorite, OPM.

After closing its doors for a little while, the club underwent a multi-million dollar remodel and re-emerged as Poetry.
As Pham puts it, "The only thing constant in life is change." And so to keep up with an ever-evolving Vegas nightlife scene, the Asian theme of OPM has been left behind ("It’s been done to death," said Branden Powers, one of the club’s partners) for a unique gothic and literary theme not seen anywhere else on the Strip.

Everything everyone loved about OPM is still there though, right down to the music. Powers has said before that OPM, "doesn’t play wedding music," and just because Poetry has rolled in now, doesn’t mean anyone’s dusting off the old Hall and Oates records. Expect to hear everything from Justin Timberlake to Kanye and all the way back to the Jackson 5.

The hallways that extend out into the Forum Shops and used to give clubbers a little piece of the mall with their nightlife experience have been curtained off, so Poetry maintains a solid, fluid vibe.

The club still caters heavily to the comfort of women, including offering escorts through the crowd – just ask.

So, there’s the décor, the remodel, what’s left? Ah, yes, the party.

Poetry’s clientele ranges all the way from Texan bachelorettes to world-renowned boxing stars. It’s basically everybody looking for a good time. To see some of the notables that have partied at Poetry in the past, keep an eye out for a shelf full of Victorian silhouettes. There, the club’s past VIP hosts and guest stars, are immortalized in shadow and become a part of the club’s whole overall effect.

Different nights of the week bring different themes to Poetry, including a rarity to the Strip – a slam poetry night. The club’s dance floor comes equipped with a small, elevated stage where men and women battle it out each week to prove their command of the spoken word.

And with a killer lineup of resident DJs, you can be sure that music demonstrating hip-hop’s non-literary virtues (like some pretty hip-shaking beats) will always be pouring from Poetry’s speakers.

There you have it, deep, dark colors, sexy women, sexy men, plenty of drinks, plenty of sparkle – poetry has never been this much fun.

-- Review by Jamie Helmick