Starting only about a half hour late, el presidente, Thom Francis began the open mic with his poem of being “… in your cold embrace …” “Shackle” followed by Prof. Daniel Nester‘s long piece about being run over by a lawnmower when he was 19 & suing the manufacturer. Leslie Michelle‘s poem “Poetry High” was just written tonight, right here.
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| D. Colin, Slamin’ |
Then Mojavi jumped in with the duties as host. Jess Listen to my Words read a new poem from her notebook, the deathly “A Mirror.” Ed Rinaldi‘s poem “Old Pain” was for Spring (which began today!). Mojavi read a new poem, “Intervention,” ripped from the pages of today’s newspaper on the shooting of Trayvon Martin, in Sanford, FL.
I had seen Rainmaker (Peter Charles Seaton) perform at UGT last week & he was back tonight as the Nitty Gritty Slam’s first Featured Poet. He began with a bar poem/love poem, playing on names of drinks & beers, strung together in his breathless, surging ahead style. Also in the same style was “Move Me” (on spoken word performance), & the political “Uncle Sam is my grandfathter…” He thought he was done, but Mojavi called him back to the stage to perform an erotic piece, “Please Let Me” done in a slowed down version of his usual style.
When Dain Brammage took the stage to host the Slam (& perform his “Slam Poem” with unbidden help from the audience, i.e., me) he had forgotten to select a “sacrificial lamb”, so Rainmaker came back again to perform another piece in his interchangable style.
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| Elizag, Dain Brammage, D. Colin, Victorio |
I thought I was a shoe-in for the second round with only 5 signed up, but with the last-minute addition of another walk-in poet my chances grew slimmer. Still, my 4th slot reading of “One Poem” earned me a respectable 26.1. In the second round, D. Colin‘s perfect 30 was marred by an over-time penalty, but she went on to win the final round, going toe-to-toe with Eliag; Victorio had sewed up the 3rd slot. In my opinion (which I know ain’t worth much without a judge’s clipboard & marker), D. Colin’s final round poem on Haiti was a much better piece than her second round poem that got 10s. But I guess that’s Slam for you, real poems don’t get a 10, as someone once said.
Full scores, etc. are at AlbanyPoets.com. Come back on the 1st & 3rd Tuesday of the month at Valentines in Albany, NY for the Nitty Gritty Slam, starts with an open mic at 7:30PM, $5. will get you a stamp on a body part.
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