Poetry slams are more than just a bunch of hipsters who gather in coffee shops and snap about someone’s words over an open mic. A poetry slam is a place to feel welcomed, real, and not alone. Even though most people turn away or cringe when they hear the word “poetry,” you don’t have to understand a specific poem in order to feel how that performer feels. You just have to listen and let others be heard.
Slams are the places where people can communicate about their hardships, heartbreaks, and headaches. At poetry slams, you learn the truth: depression isn’t a model with mascara running down her bony cheeks – it’s staring at the wall for three hours with bloodshot eyes trying to figure out how to gain motivation; self-harm isn’t about loved ones kissing your wrists and saying that it will be okay – it’s about the scars that will remind that person every day of the hell that he or she has gone through; rape is not about how much sex someone has or hasn’t had because he or she was asking for it – it’s about the way in which that victim will want to burn his or her skin each and every day when the feeling of those unwanted fingertips reflect back in the mirror.
Poetry is art.
Poetry is an elevator ride.
Poetry is the way in which one expresses life.
When people turn away from poetry slams simply because of the word “poetry,” I strongly suggest them to start doing the opposite. Students in college experience some awful events and often feel alone or trapped in who they can listen to or talk to. Places like coffee shops that host slams are places that are welcoming for all – without any judgment. I believe that if more people engaged in the arts such as poetry slams then people would understand one another a little bit more. One does not have to compete and perform, one just has to listen and be a part of the motivational applause at the end. You don’t even have to like poetry or English to understand poetry.
Poetry is storytelling.
Poetry is an everlasting heartbeat.
Poetry is the way in which one finds voice.
Many college towns, cities, and local schools hold events such as poetry slams and open mics so that people from all over can come and listen and be a part of a community that wants to hear about experiences. Poetry is a condensed version of a story, a snapshot of a scene, an open letter to the past or future, a frozen moment in time, a memory that should be burned, and an emotion that will never leave. Poetry, in its finest, is not a word to be afraid of; poetry, in its finest, is language. Language is the one thing that this entire world can revolve around. We all have multiple languages and ways we communicate, but no one should ever be silenced. Poetry is a painting that speaks. Come paint. Go discover. Poetry is a matter of life, not just a matter of art.
