I’ve always wanted to go to a poetry slam competition and even perform at one eventually. The chance came for me to attend a local one this past month. I had the chance to perform if I wanted to, but since this was my first time even watching a live one, I chose to just watch. I didn’t have a poem written that was slam material either.
For those of you who don’t know what a poetry slam is, it’s where poets perform a spoken-word poem individually or with a group. Each poem is rated on a scale from one to ten by three judges. Whoever has the most points at the end wins the slam competition. And instead of clapping, you snap your fingers if you like a poem.
This poetry slam went on for about an hour and consisted of high school students. The three judges were slightly older, most likely in college. They were very generous with their scores, staying in the range of a nine. No poem was under a 9.2 which happens less in a more serious poetry slam.
One thing I’ve always heard about poetry slams is that the audience and other poets are extremely supportive of the poets performing, no matter what the subject of the poem is. I saw this in play at this slam. Anytime a poet would say a funny or deep-meaning line, you could hear the audience respond, supporting the poet with laughs or snaps.
It was announced in the beginning of the slam that this was a safe area for poets. They could express themselves knowing the audience would be encouraging and nonjudgmental. It also meant that certain things were not to be said in poems such as racist remarks.
One performance showed me how compassionate people at these slams can be. This poet stumbled over words and occasionally apologized for it, obviously nervous. The audience encouraged her to keep going, and I could see that she became more confident toward the end of the poem. Everyone created an environment of acceptance.
I’ve watched many poetry videos on Button Poetry, including Sabrina Benaim’s Explaining Depression to my Mother. She also was a facilitator at a poetry workshop earlier that day that I unfortunately missed. Her poem focuses on depression and anxiety, and many other poets have ones on other serious issues such as rape, self-harm, suicide, etc.
Many poems performed at this slam involved serious issues; one of them was rape. Watching a high school girl perform a poem like this in person isn’t even comparable to watching a video of the performance on YouTube. You not only get to see the strong emotion from the poet, but you get to see the reactions of the audience as well.
Attending this poetry slam has given me some insight into what it is like to be in the audience. The acceptance of the poets is overwhelming, and after I attend a few more slams, I hope to perform my own poem on stage.
