Slice of Life Post March 24, 2023, by Barb Edler

I started out my evening with a little hotel happy hour. Free food and drinks. The bread and almonds were fantastic. I thought I needed just a little liquid courage, but just a little. Now for the drumrolll……Yes, success, I’m moving on to the Final Poetry Slam Stage on April 6, 2023, in Des Moines. Woot! Woot!

When I arrived at the venue, I had to draw a card. I drew #8. Altogether ten poets were competing, and the competition was open to twelve poets. I was quite happy that I did not have to go first!

The slam had three rounds. I probably got the worst score for the first poem I performed. I was nervous about yelling out my first line, so I think that slightly threw me off. The second-round poem was a bit shorter, but no big hiccups. The audience loved my last poem, and I actually received several 9+scores and a 10! Out of the four final poets, I received second place. All final four poets are invited to slam on April 6.

I worked hard to memorize each poem, and I did screw up a little something each time, but I think I covered those mistakes fairly well. At the end, I did not think I was going into the final round, but then amazingly my name was called.

Now, I think I might have to write more poems. I learned a bit more about spoken word. Although I am moving on in the competition, I would say I know how to perform my poems, but that I’m not really a spoken word poet. Perhaps in a short time, I can write something that is more like what I heard all the young poets perform. Yes, I was forty plus years older than anyone else which did make me feel really, really old and kind of weird. Hey, I had fun though.

All in all, it was a great adventure. I learned a lot, and now I have two weeks to prepare for the next big event! As my son used to sing, “Somebody Help Me!”