Journal: Aug 01, 2010
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04/14/2006 Archived Entry: I went to Grand Rapids
I went to Grand Rapids with a couple other Columbus poets (Joanna Schroeder and Kim White) for a bout in the MidWest Poetry League. It was a very close bout, though we lost 10-8. But just for showing up we got second and thus a league point and so are most likely proceding to finals, which by partial design happens to be the same weekend and in the same place as the Rustbelt slam. Luckily it is also the weekend between the Spring and Summer quarters.
Shall I mention that one of the judges always voted for the home team? Perhaps this is one of the reasons why home teams are unable to earn league points.
O, that sounds as if the host wasn't good. On the contrary, Grand Rapids was a gracious host tolerating our very late arrival and providing gas money -- please note gas money from Columbus, OH to Grand Rapids, MI and back again isn't pocket change. The guy who runs it, Greg Bliss, was nice and funny and it seemed a good night / scene.
Thanks to my rocking teammates Joanna and Kim who performed really well and were excellent and fun on the road trip. Kim was a slam virgin before she was invited onto the team and won both of her rounds. Woo hoo!
My poems read:
"Audience of One" (in the open mic before the slam)
"Terri's Schiavo's Heaven"
"Speed Poetry" (which actually has a dedication to Zelda MacGregor. It was made with contributions from Joanna and Kim, the team piece)
"Liz Phair Fucks Her Man"
Joanna read:
"Told in Seasons" (in the open mic before the slam)
"Employee Action Plan"
"Speed Poetry" (though I wrote most the frame, she was the lead voice and contributed to the speed poetry examples)
Kim read:
"Confessions of a Mad Woman"
"For the Vain Poet"
"Speed Poetry" (Kim provided the counter points that livened up lead voice and contributed to the speed poetry examples)
"Break Up Poem" (in the open mic after the slam)
Replies: 7 comments
Although we lost this bout, it felt like a win in many ways.
Louise, your performance of "Terri Schiavo's Heaven" gave the audience chills.
And I don't think anyone in the crowd would have believed Kim White had not been slamming for years. Possibly even since birth. If she wasn't such a nice person, I would suspect her of being some kind of slam shark. She was that good.
And when you think about the fact that one judge went for Grand Rapids every single time, it means that every round we won, we had to win over both of the other two judges who were up for grabs. In my mind, that makes the fact that we did win three of the rounds even more impressive.
Even yesterday, when I was all sleep deprived and feeling grumpy about being at work, I still felt really good about what we did up there.
Three cheers for Louise for bringing it all together!
Posted by Joanna @ 04/14/2006 02:15 PM ET
Thanks, Joanna. I was glad to be on the team with you and with Kim.
Posted by Louise @ 04/14/2006 06:12 PM ET
How did I not know about the dedication? I'm honored and everything!
Posted by Zelda @ 04/14/2006 07:58 PM ET
DING WRITE THAT POEM!
I forgot all about that.
Posted by Zelda @ 04/14/2006 08:00 PM ET
I kind of felt like I was cheating because no one had thought to write it down yet.
Posted by Louise @ 04/14/2006 09:06 PM ET
Louise
Thank you for letting me come with you all. It is an experience that I will never forget. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to do my first slam with you all.
and I don't know if I would consider myself a slam shark... that is too much! Ya'll are so funny!
Posted by Kim @ 04/17/2006 11:18 PM ET
I'm very glad you came with us.
Posted by Louise @ 04/18/2006 09:18 AM ET