Slam Poetry
I have been really into slam poetry as of late. If you aren't sure what slam poetry is, the most common example of it is the show on HBO called Russel Simmons' Def Poetry. Here is an example of one of my favorite pieces of slam poetry(probaly NSFW due to language), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ9zt5fUS00 It is performance poetry, and relies heavily on vocal performance for the rhythm and tone of the work.
I'm not a good poet by any means, and most of the stuff I attempt to write is really bad love poetry, and never sees the light of day, or is only shown to the one person who generally inspires it(much to her dismay, I am sure), but I have been trying to piece something slam related together because some friends on campus wanted me to do something at the slam they have each semester. It probably won't work well in print, perhaps try reading it outloud to yourself. This is a work in progress, and I intend to add more stanzas at some point. Anyway, here it is:
Sixteen years of school…. Well…..
Sixteen years on and off….
And I have learned nothing worth knowing.
I never learned to walk away from someone I didn’t love anymore.
I never learned how to realize when a relationship is bad for me.
I never learned how to forget someone who no longer loved me.
Sixteen years of school…..and I have learned nothing worth knowing.
I never learned to tell my father how he hurt me.
I never learned to tell him how he made me afraid of relationships for a long time.
I never learned how to tell him that I love him anyway….and I still can’t.
Sixteen years of school…..and I have learned nothing worth knowing.
I never learned to treat my time with my mother as if I might lose her the very next day…..and then I did.
I never learned how to say goodbye.
I never learned how to cope with an empty house.
Sixteen years of school, and I never learned a goddamned thing.
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