there are poets among us
marjorie says...
The poetry slam extravaganza brought up random things for me:
- I am repressed.
- Humans are conduits of pain, to varying degrees. I don’t know anyone who escapes it. A big part of life is about learning how to handle it. Certain poets ride it like a wave--I’m amazed by their intensity, especially those who do it over and over again.
- Even poets are not immune to complete and utter bullshit. Anyone who listened to last night’s finale will know what I am talking about.
- For many people, oppression is an inescapable central factor of life. If you get this, you would have loved how women and people of color rocked the poetry slams. Why can’t we be that creative, that forceful, that instructive?
- I saw slams four nights in a row (this is a participation record for me) and last night I realized that my top ten was heavy with white boys. I don’t know what this means--I just loved them.
- As someone who has done a fair amount of volunteer work over the years, I was very, very impressed by the core volunteer staff--they were tight. We should be pleased to have such a dedicated group of poets in our midst.
posted by marjorie @ 10:22 PM
9 Comments:
Marjorie!! I'm back from the cross-country drive and miss you guys! Here's some comments:
1. Yeah, I think you're a tad repressed. :-) But in a lovable way!
2. Agree completely - I love how you put this.
3. I heard about this crap, I cannot believe it! I hate that it was Charlotte, too.
4. Agree completely!
5. Funny, my favorites are always the black boys! And the black women at the slam blew me away. Every time I saw the L.A. Green team I was mesmerized and in love with all of them, and shocked both times that they didn't score higher.
6. The volunteers were amazing (yeah, that includes us!). I mean, how many hours did everyone put in last week? It was our life, our second full-time job. But it was AWESOME.
Now what? I'm bored. :-)
I have plenty to do if you're bored, Mags.
Thanks to both of you for joining me in this absurd adventure. Who would have thought we'd bond over volunteering for poetry?
It just goes to show me two things: 1) you really WOULD do anything for me, and 2) you really do get me.
You guys rock. I'm so proud to have shared this little piece of my life with you both.
I wish I had heard as much poetry as you guys did!
mikaela: i'd love you to write something up on the insider's perspective, how the abq organizers felt about this after last year in st. louis. i cannot imagine they were anything less than ecstatic - i also love thinking how great abq looked in all of this. by the way, which lauchpad team made it to the finals? i've only found stuff on hollywood, abq, and charlotte. wish i could've been there for abq's big win (i still never got to hear them!)...
per pika's post on the Fix today, this also has me thinking about movement, how to build on momentum like this.
Me, too! Comments were disabled for Pika's post, but I wholeheartedly agree. Between the poets running loose on the streets and the arts fest on Saturday and other goings-on, this weekend was one big, non-stop 'Burque love fest. Sometimes it still baffles me that I ended up in New Mexico, of all places, but I am seriously digging this town. Are you gals going to be at the Fix evening at Flying Star? We still need to get that coffee!
I'm still reeling and too fuzzy to post anything coherent (still waiting for perspective to come get me from wherever I am!!), but I can say categorically that everyone was incredibly impressed with the Q. Everyone I talked to thought this was far superior to any National before it, and they also said how high we set the bar for Austin (who's hosting the next TWO years).
Fort Worth was the other team in the finals, by the way.
I wasn't aware until someone came up to me yesterday that one of the poems performed during finals was written after a visiting poem had a conversation with one of the homeless guys in Robinson Park across the street from Hotel Blue. We inspired a finals night poem! HOw cool is that?
So yeah, go A-B-Q!
i know! i know! sorry to close comments on my post at Duke City Fix, but I just felt like the moment was so perfect, the mood so powerful that I couldn't bear to leave comments open for some bozo to go and say something that would pop the whole beautiful balloon. Ya know?
Anyway, I agree. Keep the momentum alive! And let me know how I can help.
Jessie - I'll try and make it to the FS that night. Mikaela and I are trying our hand at teaching that day - our first UNM undergrad planning classes are that morning - so hopefully we'll be in the mood for some celebratory dessert instead of sedatives! It was great seeing you at the Guild, by the way.
Pika - Don't fear comments! While those of who are admittedly anal might think we've truly said it all, I find that community support (or not) in words always adds something. And with that post, you would've had nothing but love. (What happened to the Toy Night write-up, by the way - I tried to send the link to someone and it's gone!)
Mikaela - What's up with Austin getting two years? I think ABQ should steal Year 2 away from them.
OK, maybe I'm not the person who you should be wanting advice from on this--but embrace the inner repression. It's not always a bad thing, considering whatever each individual needs to repress. On the other hand, even saying that is kind of disturbing. But I think it's about the only way I make it through the day.
Erik, you continually crack me up. :-)
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