Poetry Slam

Last night was the first time I've been to a spoken word event at the Drake Hotel in Toronto. They had an open mic session and a poetry slam.

After coming in to the event with a few friends a little early, we were actually asked to help judge the poetry slam! The first time being in a spoken word event and I'm already judging! The most exposure I've had to poetry was spoken word portrayed in movies and Raphael De La Ghetto in Fresh Prince. I was sort of expecting the poems to be too abstract for me but most of the poems were delivered with great imagery and descriptions. There were a few poems that I either didn't get at all or just didn't care about (one dude's poem was about hating pandas and penguins) but overall the poems were great and I didn't realize how much local talent there is in Toronto.

For me the best poems of the night were the ones that really delivered their message. Some of the poems had subject matter that I could relate to and had imagery that really brought out real emotion through the words. Some of the poems had subject matter that I have never or would never experience but through the poems I would be able to understand and feel how the poet feels. Going to the Toronto Poetry Slam was definitely a great and unique experience and I would go again if another opportunity comes up.

I'm going to end this post with 2 haikus by the featured poet at the event, Andre Prefontaine:

Somewhat gay monkeys/
Eating phallic bananas/
Bicurious George/

Zen master jerkoff/
He didn't see it coming/
Jizz in his third eye/

  (oh btw, people do snap to applaud the poets)