Nowadays there are numerous poetry evenings (aka open mic nights) at hostelries and arts centres throughout the country, where poets and devotees of poetry meet to listen to poems read aloud. I myself have participated in a number of these events to some acclaim. However, there is one recurring problem: audiences are often slow to recognise the end of a poem. This results is something akin to an awkward silence, because by the time the audience has registered the poem has in fact concluded, the poet has given up all hope of applause and begun the next one.
Fortunately, a dear relative of mine came up with a simple and effective device for signifying a poem is over : the Clare Dooley Poetic Device for Inviting Applause.
The Woebegone Words of Aunt Grizelda 