Lao has a long tradition of oral literature,including folk tales, children's stories,proverb,parables and poems. Talented narrator can recite lengthy poems, some as much as six hours long, entirely from memory. Lam or khap is love poetry set to music,performed as a solo or in duets. Some song go on all night and sessions have been known to last for up 72 hours. Contests for spontaneous poems and songs are also popular