SlamPoets

I am not…a slam poet.
I SLAM poets!

And every cookie cutter poet that is out there right now.
All of a sudden, every body thinks they’re Def Poets and Brave New Voices.
So let me Express Myself in a way that lets me describe what’s happening to this form of expression I used to love…Hell, I still do. But it’s like she’s cheating on me with every person that’s ever had a crush on somebody and was too scared to say so. Every person that’s ever suffered through heartbreak and just wants to get emotional. Every person that wants to stand up for their rights even when they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. Every wannabe motivational speaker who wants to try and be an inspiration to others. Every self-absorbed speaker who just wants to talk about themselves and find a way to make it seem deeper than it actually is. Every pseudo intellectual or political activist that thinks being a poet is all about writing about the problems of the world. News flash, it doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t believe in it beyond what is on the surface.

But let me straighten this out. You are not a poet, just because you can rhyme cat, with hat. Having a certain rhyme scheme or cadence doesn’t make you a good poet, it makes you a rapper. Using metaphors and similes doesn’t make you deep, it makes you an English student. Using rhetoric or comedy doesn’t make you a poet, just a person with an entertaining speech. So stop trying to point out the pros and cons, using your prose and poems. You are not the dopest because you get angry, loud, riled up or passionate when you deliver a piece. None of it matters without content, so don’t get gassed up if you’re just okay with the words.

I’m witnessing a death of the art form but there’s nothing I can do about it.

Because I am not…a beat poet.
I BEAT poets!
And every slam poet and illiterate writer who’s ever contributed to the downfall of poetry.

POW! Every single “poet” that’s ever written poems for pussy.
POW! Every single “poet” that’s just looking for attention.
POW! Every single “poet” that’s picked up a pen and a pad because it became cool.
POW! Every single “poet” that jumped on the spoken word bandwagon.

See, the first mistake is calling what you do poetry.
Because complaining about your problems vocally, does not give you the right to yell “HEY, NOTICE ME!”
Hiding under the veil of “I’m trying to create awareness and understanding in the community.”
So my point is this.

If you have no deeper understanding of what we do, beyond thinking that we just say stuff that makes you go “Oooooh”, “Ahhhhhh”, “Awwww” and more words you can snap your fingers to…then don’t’ try this at home.
Just go back to watching Def Poetry Jam in your spare time.
If you are not well-versed in this art from…then LEAVE POETRY ALONE!
If you are not well read. Not bothering to learn from what’s already been said.
Then don’t bother agreeing with me and saying the art form is dead…because in the end, we are keeping it alive.
Just treat it with the respect it deserves.

JustAnotherLovePoem

I’m not going to waste time with an introduction describing this piece because in the end, it’s just another love poem. Another page in the anthologies of love poems I’ve written through the years about females that have captivated me enough, to make me want to waste hours thinking about them and how great they are. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t mean this. So, if I ever tell you that this piece was about you…then it’s still as meaningful as the first one I ever wrote.
But to everyone else, this is just another love poem.

This is just another 3 minute piece about how I think this one girl is beyond comparison. A girl that could be the definition of average to you, because none of you are thinking “Oh, he’s talking about her…I’m 100% sure”. And I’m sure you’re not thinking that so stop pretending that you are.

Here’s another minute and a half of inane babbling of me describing how perfect she is. How every single one of her flaws just end up seeming cute to me and every sentence she’s ever said to me is my favourite sentence EVER. How I like her a whole bunch of a lot more than is necessary because she’s amazingly awesome and I’m wishing I could be a part of that. Maybe even how she’s so attractive that the word attractive isn’t enough to even describe her pinky toe and how her face has me forgetting the face of every other girl I’ve seen before her.

How metaphors don’t do justice to her essence, and nothing I can imagine is as beautiful as her…and believe me I’ve tried. How no man will ever deserve her…though I’m praying she would settle for me. Even though the chances of that happening are like me getting hit by a car…while getting struck by lightning…and getting bitten simultaneously by a radioactive bug and a really drunk homeless man…as tornadoes touch down and a tsunami hits Toronto in 2012.

But this is just another love poem where I say that the only thing I want from her is a hug when I’m feeling down. Maybe a smile, when I’m feeling like everything’s going wrong. Maybe a couple of minutes alone in a park when it feels like everything is beyond hectic. Maybe a couple more romantic instances in relation to problems that either one of us could be having, as a way to get away from it all. And this is the sentence where I talk about how much I wish I could just escape with her someplace, right between where the angels sleep and where earth and heaven meet.

Now this is the part where I talk about how much she means to me. How I wish that she’s fallen asleep or even left while I’m saying this because I don’t have the courage to let her know any of this. But then again, this is just another love poem. Because all I’ve ever done is write love poems.

I’ve never acted on any of it because I have this fear of rejection that I just can’t get over. So I write, and I write.
In the end, this is probably just another love poem to add to the collection. But then again…maybe it’s not.