National Poetry Slam info (for Suede)
DopeBeastie
Posts: 2,513
Hey there SuedecrushRearViewMirror 
Sorry this took so long.
info@poetryslam.com
K. If i remember correctly, you asked me to tell you about it. I'm not sure what I left up on my "big" thread, however.
Last winter I was asked to MC a local slam. I asked if I could read instead, and she said, "well... I really need an MC." So, I said, hey, no problem... all over it. I emailed her four months worth of poetry, unedited, and unprepared for general consumption... you know, cusswords still in, everything in lowercase... and it was the bile and hate my emotional state forced out of me as I began the incredibly painful process of divorce (from a guy who wasn't too pleased... no not at all.)
Anyway, she read some of it, called me and said she wanted me to read instead. That's when I started mentioning it here. I'd never been to a Slam, never seen one on TV. They were like mythical poetic events where I thought you had to come up with stuff on the spot. EEEK... how ya gonna get cadence outta that?
So, I started writing specifically for the Slam, trying to make my stuff longer and have more "effect", be it sex appeal or "sledge"... I wanted to clip the audiences' ankles right out from underneath them.
We didn't have to have everything memorized, though it would've helped cuz you look stupid with a quivering piece of paper in hand. But I was glad for it, because I'm busy and mentally otherwise occupied most of the time... kids... divorce... this conflasticated mindfuck of a board... you know.
So, I'd written "Mountain Climber", probably the longest thing I've ever written, and printed out my poetry thread and sorted out the longest pieces on there. I read that piece you bumped.... "dhnt, dhnt, dhnt, Is This Thing On?" first ~ and oh holy crow... it was SO emotional. I nearly cried reading it. Just in the first part, where it goes "I did love you." I almost had to lower my voice to a whisper because it was so intense. The audience responded with hoots and hollers, and some girl even screamed. I turned fourteen shades of red and scurried to the back wall (as is my way). I took first place in the first round.
The other poets in the top three were fucking awesome. And experienced in these things. I was honored to wind up with third place, and also very proud to be the ONE woman who placed at all.
I learned alot about Slam, and won a coffee mug I use all the time and a book I haven't even cracked yet. Some silly stuff about the "Casual Class", how people work and make enough money to live on their laptops in cafes and airport waiting areas. Please, lol. These fekka's aint' got no kids, do they? LOL.
Thanks for the interest. I'm sure you have a much larger community than I do and I hope you find your way to a Slam this year. It is nice to see you back on the boards, and nice to see you a tad more OUT than IN, if you catch my drift, too. You must think I'm quite mad participating so thoroughly in all the recent hub-bub.... but I'm a not-so-elderly-woman in a small town, bound to home and hearth, and well... I don't watch TV... and this place kinda makes me feel well... oh... I dunno...
Ciaocito, mi cyberamigo.
Sorry this took so long.
info@poetryslam.com
K. If i remember correctly, you asked me to tell you about it. I'm not sure what I left up on my "big" thread, however.
Last winter I was asked to MC a local slam. I asked if I could read instead, and she said, "well... I really need an MC." So, I said, hey, no problem... all over it. I emailed her four months worth of poetry, unedited, and unprepared for general consumption... you know, cusswords still in, everything in lowercase... and it was the bile and hate my emotional state forced out of me as I began the incredibly painful process of divorce (from a guy who wasn't too pleased... no not at all.)
Anyway, she read some of it, called me and said she wanted me to read instead. That's when I started mentioning it here. I'd never been to a Slam, never seen one on TV. They were like mythical poetic events where I thought you had to come up with stuff on the spot. EEEK... how ya gonna get cadence outta that?
So, I started writing specifically for the Slam, trying to make my stuff longer and have more "effect", be it sex appeal or "sledge"... I wanted to clip the audiences' ankles right out from underneath them.
We didn't have to have everything memorized, though it would've helped cuz you look stupid with a quivering piece of paper in hand. But I was glad for it, because I'm busy and mentally otherwise occupied most of the time... kids... divorce... this conflasticated mindfuck of a board... you know.
So, I'd written "Mountain Climber", probably the longest thing I've ever written, and printed out my poetry thread and sorted out the longest pieces on there. I read that piece you bumped.... "dhnt, dhnt, dhnt, Is This Thing On?" first ~ and oh holy crow... it was SO emotional. I nearly cried reading it. Just in the first part, where it goes "I did love you." I almost had to lower my voice to a whisper because it was so intense. The audience responded with hoots and hollers, and some girl even screamed. I turned fourteen shades of red and scurried to the back wall (as is my way). I took first place in the first round.
The other poets in the top three were fucking awesome. And experienced in these things. I was honored to wind up with third place, and also very proud to be the ONE woman who placed at all.
I learned alot about Slam, and won a coffee mug I use all the time and a book I haven't even cracked yet.
Some silly stuff about the "Casual Class", how people work and make enough money to live on their laptops in cafes and airport waiting areas. Please, lol. These fekka's aint' got no kids, do they? LOL.Thanks for the interest. I'm sure you have a much larger community than I do and I hope you find your way to a Slam this year. It is nice to see you back on the boards, and nice to see you a tad more OUT than IN, if you catch my drift, too. You must think I'm quite mad participating so thoroughly in all the recent hub-bub.... but I'm a not-so-elderly-woman in a small town, bound to home and hearth, and well... I don't watch TV... and this place kinda makes me feel well... oh... I dunno...
Ciaocito, mi cyberamigo.
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