The Passion of Poetry

I attended the February Poetry Slam for Black History Month. It was a really great experience! It was energized, controversial, heart-breaking, and chilling all in a few hours. Overall, I loved the atmosphere of the Slam. When the poets recited their lines with passion, the crowd would cheer and shout. There would be the occasional holler of approval that would encourage the poet onward. Each reading was followed by thunderous applause.

From the Slam, I had two favorite poems. The first, I can't remember the name of but it dealt heavily and unabashedly with feminism. The woman poet called out every aspect of male chauvinism and then pointed out every redeeming quality of a woman. The poem mainly showed the beauty of a period and why men should celebrate a woman's period rather than demean it.

My second favorite poem was titled "Jesus Was a Black Man". At first, the title comes off sounding controversial among LDS groups and for that reason it immediately caught my attention. The poem turned out to be touching and beautiful. The poet said that each Jesus suffered for every pain including the pains of the black man. It ended beautifully by saying "Jesus was a black woman" and the woman poet teared up when she said those words.

I really enjoyed the Slam and I definitely plan to attend more of them!