Adventures in Slam Poetry
Thomas Haney, for several years, has hosted an annual poetry slam competition. Though I have loved poetry and public speaking both from the fifth grade, I was always too self-conscious to perform my own poetry.
That is, until last year.
I was proud of the slam poems I wrote last year. I was even honored with a plaque for "Best Flow" at our district slam. This year, I hoped to step things up.
I'm not sure I know how to write anything that is not intensely personal, let alone a slam poem. Each poem I write reflects some aspect of my current emotional state, usually my frustations or desires.
My first poem was called If/When and was inspired by the ongoing one-sided conversation with my father about whether or not I want to have kids. This is the angrier of the two slams I wrote this year. It was also cathartic. When I finished, I was exhausted. Part of the reason I wanted to write a second poem was that I didn't want to have to perform If/When again. It was emotionally draining. Nevertheless, it allowed me to shed some of my anxieties and reach a place of acceptance.
My second poem was called A Promise for the Infinite Now. It was a love letter to my best friend.
As graduation neared, I was looking for ways to tell my friends how much I cared about them. Those kind of sentiments are often reserved for birthday cards and yearbooks - but I was more dramatic. I declared my love in front of an auditorium of people.
"And I vow to love you ad infinitum
Because you are diamond
And when you catch my light
We refract shards of rainbow
And as we move away
Those shards fly apart like a universe expanding
And I love you in every inch of it."
Even though I wrote with a specific person in my, the poem is really about all of my friends. Each of them has shaped who I am, and will continue to do so, even after we have gone our separate way.
I made a promise
At the end of the day, poetry -my poetry - is about communication.
I vowed my friendship in the hopes that my words could create a lasting bond.
I've done all I can. Now only time will tell.
4
our snaps are ready