DID YOU SAY SLAM? OH SLAM POETRY!

No! Slam poetry is not slamming someone with poetry or slamming some poetry around. It’s much more than that.  Let’s start from the basics. It is clearly understood that written poetry and oral poetry are two completely different things altogether; one is in print while the other is voiced orally.   Oral poetry is not something new though, in fact; oral was there before print as poetry was something done orally in early civilizations. Oral poetry was used in many cultures across the globe package in various forms as a way of teaching children, passing on knowledge or information (in a simple or coded form) relaying history or praising heroes or God etc. 

Print came way after. Out of oral poetry came performance poetry, although it is somewhat the same but, with performance poetry especially in today’s times is a little different to long ago; you can employ music, dance, miming, drama and other  artistic elements rather than just voice it or sing it as was done in the past. And performance poetry is specifically composed for a performance before an audience. Today, performance poetry is even being used as a means to promote literacy in public school systems which I think is pretty cool. But the big thing now or I should say the ‘in thing’ is Slam Poetry.

There’s very little between the two; generally, if you incorporate music or dance it’s referred to as performance poetry because it’s all part of performing arts, whereas slam poetry tends to refer to spoken word poetry in a competition. The general format is that each poet performs their piece and gets judged by a panel of five members selected from the audience. Each performance is then scored out of ten.  At slam events you are judged on your performance, content and ability to memorize your poem. You get about three minutes to perform your poem and often in a slam you are not allowed props, music, dancing or anything that you would be allowed with performance poetry.

Put simply, slam poetry or poetry slam is the competitive art of performance poetry, with dual emphasis on writing and performance, encouraging poets to focus on what they're saying and how they're saying it. Being a performing poet or slam poet takes a lot of practice and hard work to master the art, I have dabbled in both so I can tell you it's not easy, but it's do-able.  I was winner twice of the National Poetry Competition and have perform poetry in a number of places in Trinidad and Tobago. It can be fun so don't be afraid to give it a try.

HERE’S A VIDEO THAT CREATIVELY INTRODUCES YOU IN TO SLAM POETRY I KNOW YOU'LL ENJOY!

(The video is actually longer than the 2:27 minutes so if it reaches the end and stop just click at the end and it will continue)

THE PERFORMANCE OF POETRY IS AN ART JUST AS MUCH AN ART AS THE ART OF WRITING!

BELOW IS ANOTHER VIDEO WHICH SHOWS POETRY SLAM BEING USED AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL FOR STUDENTS TO NOT ONLY DEVELOP THEIR VOICE AND SELF CONFIDENCE, BUT ALSO DEVELOP THEIR CRITICAL AND WRITING SKILLS AS THEY LEARN THE POWER OF WORDS

HEY IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN PERFORMING POETRY AND NEED SOME PERSONAL TIPS OR TUTORIAL, JUST MESSAGE ME

SO TIME FOR ME TO SLAM SOME POETRY

RACISM A UNIVERSAL NIGHTMARE

Madness, sadness

Hating, degrading

Dehumanizing

Humanity dying, dying

Die, die

Fight, fight

 To what end?

Twisted believes

Wounds unhealed

Each one bleeds, each one feels

Fear, such fear

Tears, such tears

Restless catastrophe

Past ideologies affecting the present

Wasted lives past away in strive

And hope's dreams night conceals

Red, yellow black, white

Straight hair, kinky hair

see here!

Colours, mere colours

Of inferiority and superiority

Violent ideologies, mad philosophies

Distorted facts

White good, bad black

On and on fighting, hating, killing

Humanity dying, dying

Ebony and ivory

No sight to see

Each man’s beauty and dignity

Each colour unique

God’s creation all

But who cares?!

Racism here

A universal nightmare! 

By Cheryl Griffith

  IN LIGHT OF THE RACIAL DIVIDE AFTER THE RECENT ELECTION

I THINK PEOPLE NEED TO STOP, THINK AND REALIZE