Maggie says:
I've been reeling the past two days. Working at the Flying Star, watching these amazing poets, and feeling... hope. The past two nights have been exactly what I needed. There I was, feeling dejected, hopeless, depressed, angry, and alone. And flooding into Albuquerque come 500+ slam poets, teams from all over the country (and a few outside of it), and with them they bring beautiful words and passion and protest and insight and genius and change.
I watch these amazing men and women and feel my gut quench and my heart pound. Their words reach me. In three minutes, they can perfectly capture my deep unhappiness with the war, my outrage at the Bush administration, my regret that American life can seem so empty. And then there's the promise: that none of us who feel this way are alone, that there are more of us than we sometimes think, that we are the future, that there's still promise and opportunity and the hope for something better, for something more. That hope is very much alive in Albuquerque this week. The venues are bursting with it; the streets are electric with it. All over town, there's hope for something kinder and more humane. And Albuquerque has never been a better host.
My favorite moments so far:
- Hugging the Durham, NC team after their win and being happily enveloped by several giant Southern black men who sounded just like home, and who greeted me as if I'd never left
- Nearly crying after a woman's reflection on her abortion that kept going back to "I'm not ashamed and I don't regret it, but sometimes I get lonely"
- The last group piece by the Hawaiian team, where three native Hawaiians kept shouting "The Americans are coming" and listed off place after place where we've turned "people of color into the minority," including their own homeland
- Hearing a storm poet's tribute to his lesbian daughter who tried to commit suicide, which ends with a raging declaration of why parents should love their children unconditionally
- The Minneapolis group piece last night called "Nerds are Sexy" - I think we all felt like it was written just for us :-)
- Every poem that's railed against our corporate consumer culture
- At the Erotic Poetry Slam, this piece called "Reflex" by this amazingly beautiful woman who also noted, "In three years, I've never gotten laid at the Nationals. Help me out here!"
- Poem after poem after poem that's received deafening applause with every attack against current U.S. policy and a call for something better
- The collective spirit and energy in Flying Star - it's been PACKED! (people lining the staircase, sitting on dividers, poking out of every corner)
- How everyone gave us funny looks last night when those of who live here got really excited when it started raining ("Do you smell that?!?!?")
- Mikaela and I holding each other up from laughing so hard at Erotic night during what has to be the worst, most un-erotic poem ever performed, delivered in all its tank top/white sneaker glory from a Corpus Christi man who is just not very gifted, to put it nicely ("Mikaela, he did not just say that, did he?")
- My sidekick Genny at the FS merchandise/ticketing table, who is the coolest 16-year old I've ever met
I'll be back at Flying Star tonight working the semi-finals. In case any of you locals haven't been to an event yet, this is your night to go! All the teams have been whittled down to just twenty. Of the teams I've seen, I'd recommend checking out the Mesa team's hilarious group piece making fun of Nascar culture and everything the Hawaii team performs. I also heard that Charlotte (yay NC!) and Hollywood kicked ass at the Launchpad this week. And of course, I wish the ABQ team tons of luck.
Tonight's schedule:
| VENUE | LAUNCHPAD | GOLDEN WEST | NHCC | FLYING STAR |
| TIMES | HEAD 2 HEAD HAIKUSHOWCASE AT 8:00 TEAM SEMI AT 9:00 | GROUP PIECESHOWCASE AT 8:00 TEAM SEMI AT 9:00 | NO SHOWCASE TEAM SEMI AT 8:30 | GROUP PIECE SHOWCASE AT 8:00 TEAM SEMI AT 9:00 |
| TEAMS | Ft Worth | San Francisco | NYC Louder Arts | Boston Lizard Lounge |
| Palo Alto | Charlotte | Hawaii | Seattle | |
| Berkeley | Detroit | Albuquerque | Baton Rouge | |
| Mesa | DC- Baltimore | Oakland | Hollywood | |
| NYC- Urbana | Minneapolis | Delray | LA Green |
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