They’re still doing poetry slams. (The poets.) Kind of a strange realization for me. The competition over verse, passion and the spoken word elegantly pushed through a microphone continues in various places. My wife and I met years ago at an open mic for poetry. I still perform once a year, but fatherhood and dozens of other concerns keeps me at a distance from regular performance.
I’d slammed at the Y-Not II and the Green Mill and a number of other places back in the late ’90s. Every now and then I get word of another competition. The latest is Cup of Tea Poetry Slam next week Friday at 3041 NORTH on 3041 W. North Ave. The slam runs 7:00 p.m. - midnight. It’s a $10 entry fee, but the grand prize is $200. Antoine Davis hosts. There’s really no way to preview something like this. You never know quite what you’re going to get with a slam, but it never fails to be an attempt to reach right into the jaws of language and pry out something beautiful.
For more information, visit the slam’s Facebook events page.
