IWPS Wrap-Up

First and foremost (and I'm sure I'm being repetitive), this was the most tightly run Poetry Slam Event I've frequented (in which I've attended every one of them since IWPS 2005). The proximity of the venues, the attention to detail by the staff, I just can't give Ekabhumi and his crew enough credit. Doesn't mean it was perfect, but above any criticism I could honestly muster.



So a brief recap from the first night (I'll have more slam nerdery listed below): I had a total rank of "5" after day one and stood in 11th place overall going into day two. I pulled a total of a "3" on day two giving me a total rank of "8". This would be put in 5th place overall, the top 12 making Finals. Wow. You know, it was a goal of mine to make Finals, but I always envisioned myself sliding in somehow, not stomping into it. But all my poems went over really well in pre-lims and I made it in with a nice cushion. Even more special for me was the fact that Mr. Ed Mabrey made Finals too.



My history with Ed is well documented, so it felt 'right' for both of us to make Finals together. It took me a while to make an impression upon the poetry world without Ed's involvement (not his fault, just the natural way these things happen), so for us both to make the stage felt really good.

It was good having Ethan there representing Writing Wrongs too.



At first we both groaned when we found out we had BOTH of our Prelim bouts together. But it was a blessing for me to be able to see him perform all of his pieces at his first IWPS, even if we were competing against each other. I'm sure he would've like to place better, but in all honesty, it probably happened the way it should've. The first night was rough on him, but an eye opening moment, the second I saw more confidence and a better stage presence from him. A good overall experience for him and I look forward to seeing what it brings out of him.

Lastly, before the specifics of how I got to Finals, the Individual World Poetry Slam Champion Amy Everhart was pretty outstanding.



Many have said that this was the best Finals stage for IWPS. I dunno how true that is, but I was happy to be included. Many of the poets that made Finals I truly admired, so it was awesome to be amongst them. A great night overall.

Some fun facts:
As many have now figured out, Amy was the first woman ever to win IWPS.
But also, with Iyeoka finishing second, this was the first time since the first IWPS that two women made the final pairing.
In total (if my history is accurate), that still only brings the number of women to make the final four to 5 (Rachel McKibbens and Andrea Gibson twice, Celena Glenn and now Iyeoka and Amy).
Last item on gender would be that Finals was even split: 6 men and 6 women.
Another item: Denver is doing the damn thing. Including Ayinde Russell as the SAC, four poets from Denver graced the final stage. They did send 7, but still, that's a nice pull.
Another close to even split: Five vets (Khary Jackson, Tara Hardy, Original Woman, Ed, Alvin Lau, ) and 7 newbies to IWPS Finals (Amy, Iyeoka, Sierra DeMulder, Rudy Francisco, Kim Johnson, Theo Wilson & myself).

All in all I had a great time and this was easily one of the best poetic experiences I've had thus far. (Slam Nerdery in the next post)

Day 1 at IWPS...

...was kind of badass. Fun stuff. Leah and I spent all day on a plane (our flight left at 6am EST), so to say we were fatigued by nights end was an understatement. First impressions, Berkeley is slightly awesome. Just north of stupendous. I love the environment, the community feel within the venues. I know the Bay Area has been touting how hard they've been working on IWPS and it shows, tremendously.

People have said it already, but I'll reiterate: women are running this IWPS. After day one, I think they are 4 of the top 5 and 7 of the top 12. The only qualifier I'll give is that more specifically, the western United States women are running IWPS. I'm pretty sure Iyeoka is the only woman east of the Mississippi in the top rankings (there's only 4 of us total with that regional differential in the top 12). Maybe that's a coincidence, maybe that's part of the growing discussion of just how regionally competitive the national events have gotten depending on where its held, but either way, they're bringing it and bringing it with fury.

Personally, I started off the day by doing the Masquerade Slam (hosted and created by Christian Drake). All persona poems and a really fun event. I did '21 Shots for Jesse Jackson from Huey P Newton'. I didn't realize they were scoring it (in the most loose and fun way possible) till I got there, but I ended up finishing 2nd in the slam to Sean Walker's amazing Tree persona piece. Great stuff.

I had a late bout and pulled the 1 spot in the rotation. Great. But I was lucky enough to 1) be in the late bout and 2) have this be the year that they switched the order of putting the 4 minute round first, then the 1 minute round. So, even though I was leading off, I could lead off with a stronger piece. I ended up with a 4 rank for my 4 minute, and a 1 for my 1 minute round giving me a total rank of 5. Puts me in 11th place heading into tonight. Ugh. I'd like more cushion. I would probably feel more comfortable knowing I had to climb to get in, cuz trying to hold serve ain't really my steez. Friday is always moving day at IWPS, things never end up the status quo, so I'm going to perform like I'm on the outside looking in.

Got a tough bout tonight, but I'm set up well (my reward for going first last night is going last in the first round today), so we'll see.

In the mean time, I'm cruising Berkeley with my wife, will stop in and see some workshops and the Poet CD showcase, then get myself ready to perform tonight.

The road to IWPS...

...has been long and winding since I last was there. Which would've been 2006, in Vancouver, BC. That was my first IWPS (though I watched the 05 wips in Charlotte for my first national poetry slam event) and I didn't know what I was doing. Not even a little bit. I had exactly 2 1/2 poems at most, but still managed to come in 22nd. I was cool with it. Got to watch one of my boys make finals (Baz), my other boy actually win the damn thing (Ed), so it was a really good time to me. When Ed won the bid to bring IWPS to Columbus, I was amped. Like Crank type shit. I mean, how often do you get to compete for a National event in your own backyard. So I was dedicated to working my poems and giving myself a legit shot to make Finals, especially since it would be in my hometown. Then Ed moved to Arizona. And the bid fell apart. Then I started Writing Wrongs and wanted to focus on growing my scene over competing during the winter. In the words of Tyler Durden, "I suppose these things happen."

So I set my self up to make a run at this year. Berkeley sounded like a great place to jump back into the fray since I've never performed out west before (besides Vancouver). I'm still trying to grow my local scene, so I didn't want to compete in the preliminary slams as to not take a spot away from somebody else. I've been working pretty hard on my craft for the last few years and I feel...adequate going into Berkeley. Of course, the first night all ways kills more dreams then it births, but I'll blow up that bridge when I get to it. Wish me luck...I'll keep you updated as the nights progress.

Some moving pictures

I get hit up all the time as to where video of me performing is at. While I don't have a ton of recent stuff, here's what I could grab from the interwebs

Poem: 15 Songs for the Inner-City Teenager

A few people asked about this, so here it is:

15 Songs for the inner-city teenager

I. The first time you watched an animal starve to death
You told yourself
This was nature’s way
An evolution you were helpless to stand witness too
The first time you watched
You didn’t even notice it gnawing on your leg
To save itself

II. He says, ‘They gave me a hall pass, I think I’m supposed to be here’

III. Do you think it’s a coincidence that dolphins only commit suicide
After their family has abandoned them. There is a mass grave on beach fronts
Vacant of a biological history to claim for themselves

IV. When you catch the little black boy reaching for your wallet, only confront him after he has taken it
You will know if he is an animal
If he snaps at the throat that fed him

V. The walls of Eastmoor Academy High School are stained with primer
But allergic to paint
You can hear the lockers rusting under barbwire tears
The ceilings bleed yellow
Pissing over proposed failures
Like a hate crime

VI. A convicted pedophile once said that today’s youth
Are like fountain pens
They can produce beautiful arts
As long as you don’t press hard enough to break them

VII. The fourth time you watched an animal starve to death
You crossed the street
Quickened your pace
Sang ‘Amazing Grace’ loud enough to block out
The death rattle behind you

VIII. He used to walk to school with his friends. Then he walked to school with an extra clip in his pocket
Now he just walks with an extra clip

IX. Near the end of World War II, the US soldier confronts a civilian of Auschwitz near a concentration camp:
Are you fucking kidding me. Are you trying to tell me you couldn’t smell the bodies. The burning. The ritual
Do you expect me to believe that you can’t taste death when you opened your bedroom window at night
That you don’t know extinction when you see it?

X. ‘I have a hall pass, I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be here’

XI. The streets are like dog years. If I live to my senior year, I want 34 candles on my cake. What the fuck do you know about privilege? I walk past guys every day that size up kids like malt liquor bottles. Longing for the day they can twist my top off and pour out some for the losers that ain’t here. Did you think this was as easy as falling off a bike? Did you think that adults would live forever?

XII. The 11th time you saw an animal starve to death
You closed the door. Called animal control. Boarded your windows
Complained what the spectacle would do to your property value

XIII. The walls of Northland High School are slick with the gooey insides of torn promises
If you press your chest to the linoleum, you can smell the bodies, the burning, the rituals. Do you think the walls flirt with the ghosts of extinction? If it had arms how tight do you think it would hold it students?

XIV. The last time you saw an animal starving to death
You shot it in the forehead. Watched its ambition hit the cement like a bear trap vomiting on itself
Its left leg was still twitching when you removed the hall pass from his fist and replaced it with the gun
You then immediately forgot the whole thing happened

XV. A bloody E Flat he says, ‘They gave me a hall pass, told me, I was supposed to be here. Did they know you were waiting here, when they sent me?’

Horshoes...Handwritten Grenades

It comes back to you sometimes. Like an old accent you suppress until you hear your native tongue flirting with the tip of your ear drum.

Winning...something came back for the Writing Wrongs squad on Thursday as we were able to win our bout. The team battled hard, performed their asses off and dug deep with a collective grip around their nads (er, ovaries in Barb's case) and did what needed to be done to win. So that gave us a total of a 4 thru pre-lims (3rd place finish on Tuesday, 1st on Thursday). Just so has it a few "4's" got in to semis. Unfortunately we weren't with them.

But I couldn't be more proud of how we bounced back, finishing 27th overall (out of 68 teams with the top 20 making semifinals).

We're done slamming, but I'll have more updates from the National Poetry Slam later

Heartbreak...

Well, for Nationals the first night of slamming is always heartbreak hotel. Everyone finds out if they prepared enough or gets to see that they’re no nearly as good as they thought they might be. Writing Wrongs pulled the 3 in their first bout (ie, finished 3rd out of 4 teams). Judging by the performances we put on, that seems about right. Definitely not the type of effort we had prepped all the summer, so in that aspects it’s a little disappointing. We still have our next bout on Thursday in a very winnable matchup, so we are not past our window of atonement. Making semi-finals is probably a long shot at this point, but we can still make a herculean effort towards it by winning on Thursday.

But that’s the slam part of it. From a coaching perspective, while I’m not happy about how we performed, I’m glad everyone got to hit the stage on the first night. Our rookies got a taste of the hard skin of slamming at Nationals and I think they’ll be better for it. We all got to hear some amazing work both in our bout and others, making a lot of new friends along the way.
Wednesday is our off day, so I think our team has made it mandatory that the beach is on the menu. A much needed day of rest, relaxation and at the end of the night, just hearing some good poems.

I’ll check in again soon.