Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Tuesday April 19, 2005 - 5:41AM

Last night's semi-final poetry slam was fun - weird, but fun. This was the first time for a long time i didn't care whether or not i won. i wanted to win, but i felt really really comfortable and unpressured the whole time and it allowed me to actually enjoy the poetry. For the first time, i decided well in advance what i was going to do in each round, and stuck to that. i didn't worry about strategizing or wondering about what other people might do (i never do that anyway).

Anyhow, i came in tied for second with Rachel. Carlos Gomez won. That however was all incidental to the fact that Bekah Dinerstein featured. Bekah is an Urban Word student (still only 18 or 19 i think) and already a fabulous poet. For my money she is a poetry prodigy, and her work was gorgeous. Further, Bekah is at one and the same time, completely without ego and strangely self-assured. Her work is not yet in print anywhere, but keep looking and you'll see it soon enough.

I spent much of the day fascinated by international curling and kick boxing rotating on ESPN2. The precision of curling and the sweping of the ice to speed up (or slow down) and guide the stone, make for riveting drama. I found the kick boxing particularly interesting because it seemed so much more without the nastiness that seems to be prevalent in professional boxing. Of course, folks are getting their heads kicked in (that's kinda the point), but there seemd among the fighters a kind of camaraderie; an understanding of one another even in the ring that appears largely absent in professional boxing.

Thursday coming, i get to hang out with martin espada. that's likely the next time anyone hears from me. i have lots of writing to do for my Patricia Smith Cave Canem workshop tomorrow and i actually have some poems brewing in my head...

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just wanted to tell you that i saw you at a slam (well my honors english we watched it and it was amazing. and i think you are a phenomenal poet. incredible. I would love to get to have some correspondence with you since i am a young and aspiring artist. i post some in my journal and some at writing.com. it depends.

you're incredible.

7:04 PM  

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