P.S. To My Previous Response - To the Poets
I’d like to add a word to the poets who slam.
Guys, you all know the deal. We all want to win or be thought of as good poets or go to national events or go on poetry tours or get published or this thing or that. It is the rare poet that ONLY wants to share. I get that. And I know that, on occasion, some of us have made decisions during slams that we believe will net us these things, like repeating poems over and over (and over...) or going for something more populist or accessible and less artistically meaty. All of this is your right as an artist and as a slam poet. And, as evidenced with all of the stuff I wrote above, I will always defend your right to make those decisions. I will fight for you to do whatever you want on that stage so long as it strives for poetry, even if I dislike what you have to say. You have no stronger supporter of your right to commit an act of poetry than me, I promise.
But some of these rocks hit some of you. So you should know that I will stand in front of rocks aimed at poetry slams all day. I know poetry slams like Click and Clack know cars. But I will not stand in front of a rock about your poetry. If a rock hits you, try hollering back with some good poetry.
Guys, you all know the deal. We all want to win or be thought of as good poets or go to national events or go on poetry tours or get published or this thing or that. It is the rare poet that ONLY wants to share. I get that. And I know that, on occasion, some of us have made decisions during slams that we believe will net us these things, like repeating poems over and over (and over...) or going for something more populist or accessible and less artistically meaty. All of this is your right as an artist and as a slam poet. And, as evidenced with all of the stuff I wrote above, I will always defend your right to make those decisions. I will fight for you to do whatever you want on that stage so long as it strives for poetry, even if I dislike what you have to say. You have no stronger supporter of your right to commit an act of poetry than me, I promise.
But some of these rocks hit some of you. So you should know that I will stand in front of rocks aimed at poetry slams all day. I know poetry slams like Click and Clack know cars. But I will not stand in front of a rock about your poetry. If a rock hits you, try hollering back with some good poetry.