3 - Slam Poetry

This week in theatre class, my teacher (Adam) had us write and perform slam poetry.
For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, slam poetry is basically poetry performed in rhythm. Usually the poem is about something that the author is passionate about. This is often the kind of poetry performed in coffee shops and book stores and stuff like that, with bongo drums and berets and snapping. 

I love poetry. I love the idea of depicting emotion through words. I think language is so powerful, and the more we try to harness and mold it into something relevant to ourselves, the more we discover our own power. Words share their brilliance with us everyday; we just have to put them in the right order. We've all heard the saying that a picture speaks a thousand words, but some people don't think about the fact that with words, we create our own pictures. Our imagination takes over and we are bombarded by images and characters and faces that we didn't even know existed. Our minds have so much potential, and by letting them roam free we can create worlds.

I'm going to share some viewings of slam poetry with you, and then I'll share my own poem that I performed. There were so many good performances in my class -- I wish someone had recorded them so I could post those ones. But, alas, no one thought ahead so you'll have to make do with some I found off of YouTube. :)

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved using words. Discovering new meanings and new ways to make my feelings known to the world. From the day I learned how to rhyme to the day I learned I didn't always have to rhyme to the day that I put music to the words, they have always been an essential part of me. I'm not one who is talented enough to create fiction and weave a story so intricate, and a character with so much depth, they seem like a real person with real feelings. But I can write about myself. I can write about my feelings and my experiences and my vision. And hopefully, that's enough to make a difference to somebody.

Extraordinary

Some people, they have trouble

finding their own identity.

Everyone's a copy cat, bat, rat,

they put on a really great

impersonation.

Sometimes they even try to

impersonate

replicate

duplicate

themselves.

Or who they think they need to be.

They could pretend to be a slacker

they could pretend to be a leader

They could pretend to be a friend

a plastic, a slut, a douche, a nobody.

But all they really are

is a pushover.

Someone who goes whichever way

the conforming wind blows them.

They hear its weird to be smart

Lame to share talent

Uncool to have standards

and necessary

to be a size negative zero

along with all the other size negative zero clones.

Not to say that it's bad to be skinny

or shy

or uncertain about the rules of life

But when you drown yourself

in a sea of expectation,

You lose the key to everything you ever wanted

but somehow couldn't get by being someone else:

Ordinary.

My name is Kolbie Anne Astle

and I used to be a pushover.

But not anymore.

I'm proud to have blue eyes and a square jaw

To be a size 7 and 5'2'' 1/2

To sing like everyone's listening

and not even care, because I like to share

To be a good Mormon who doesn't want to go to BYU

To be a student with an imperfect transcript

To have read over 30 books over the summer

because I love reading!

To have the confidence to say

"I completely disagree with you"

To demand the respect that I want

and that I deserve

Because I am a somebody who matters.

My name is Kolbie Anne Astle

And I am extraordinary.