I have no excuse for not writing on this blog. It’s only been two months and fourteen days. However, I am in school and things have been a little crazy. So let’s play catch up. July presented us with two spectacular poets. As you may recall April won July 2nd.

The winner of the July 30th Just Poetry Slam is a poet that loves to have fun with poetry……Casandra. Casandra was a part of the Richmond Slam team that went to Austin, TX. If you would like to know more about Casandra check out her my space page at http://www.myspace.com/casandra_faith.

September was a double hitter for Just Poetry. We took the top two poets in order to make up for the August slam.

The winner of the August 2007 Just Poetry slam is Boots Dorfman.

The winner of the September 2007 Just Poetry slam is our own young Isaac.

The competing Poets………

ShadowKat

Iman

Daniel Custodio

Narrator

April

Casandra

Boot Dorfman

Isaac

Poets……let’s ready to rumble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is always exciting to me, to have a “dark horse” declare “The Law of Attractiveness” and their words become reality. This poet did not have the appearance of what most people visualize on stage. In fact, a seasoned poet who is tainted by the lights, stage, and praises given, would not have deemed her a threat. She had a swagger that translated the purity of poetry. You know when you first start writing and everything is bold and colorful. When the insight of your pen becomes the voice of your reality. When the words you speak no longer have vague definition. When everything you think is spoken as a poem.

She was able to use prose to convey content that many people feel uncomfortable. She shared an experience in a subject that did not deem her another causality, of a mean spirited human being. Her words were energetic and over powering. The June 2007 Just Poetry winner is April. April has been writing for some years. She is a student of Rasul “The Nobody”.

Wordsmiths don’t forget why you chose to write. (creativity, expression, sharing)

Trae Jae

“Searching for peace in an Ego Driven World.”

Most Mondays are filled with back to work blues and boring TV. But on June 4, 2007 there was an oomph in the air, a calm uneasiness. The Firehouse Theater was filled with new young talent and season veterans. We thought the night would be filled with pleasant poetry. We were graciously fooled Iman started off with a sacrificial poem that set the tone for an electrifying night. A youthful group of poets brought the Clouds of Poetic Atmosphere. While Narrator’s nouns, syllables, and adjectives conveyed the thunder and lighting that begin to dance in the horizon. Only for Daniel’s expressions to produce a rhythmic Brazilian rain storm. All of this activity caused a predictable dilemma……a Slam Off; between two of our most impressive poets, Narrator and Daniel. The victor would now be left to the audience.

The skillful wordsmiths stepped up to unlash a monsoon of verbs and intense prose that caused a small rushing river down Broad Street. The crowd was left in a state of indecisiveness. We tried twice to get a verdict only to be faced with a draw. So, DL and I made an executive decision. We were unable to have a slam in April 2007. So the Winner of the April 2007 Just Poetry Slam is Daniel. And the Winner of the May 2007 Just Poetry Slam is Narrator. On June 24, 2007 these two poets will combine their talent to present the sacrificial poem.

To see pictures of this event, go to www. myspace.com/justpoetryslam and click on pics. We also have posted the pictures from our 2006 Just Poetry Grand Slam.

Wordsmiths use the energy around for motivation.

Tracey J.

We all know that Shihan has an expressive way with words. He was born in the Lower East Side of New York. He has appeared on four seasons of Def Poetry Jam and has written for Pepsi, Nike, Reebok, Sebastian Int’l, MTV’s Rock the Vote campaign and the Schoolhouse Rocks’ compilation series. In 2000 and 2001, Shihan became the Los Angeles and Hollywood Grand Slam Champion. In 2005, he released his debut cd titled simply “The Poet”. Check out the links below of Shihan amazing performances….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5WgmbMW7Ek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK5PnZRDBxg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQMOD8Tq2hw

enjoy……Trae Jae

This is the last day of National Poetry month. I would like to share with you some poetry from local and national poets.

A prayer for those of us destined to hell
Our father who art
Not here maybe in heaven
But definitely not here
Hallowed be your name
My name is sand in the mouth
Slew footed stutter step
Aramaic word for imperfect
The old smut incessantly in our ears
Has enticed us
We are aware and unholy
We apologize with leaden hands
But remain unrepentant in the day
And harbor our secrets lovingly in the night
Our hearts are the choir of gray darkening the sky
The soft concrete possesses us
(And all things are a matter of possession)
The steel girders prop us up
Nothing else we
Stand delicately poised to protest
The progression of things how they are
But we are weak and we will not stop
the slow mutilation of ourselves
or the agony we choose for our souls
forgive us
the thigh lit by candlelight
the dent bourbon makes in the air
both shackle us to the ground
the fetters of ecstasy lock themselves to our retinas
keeping our eyes unclear and wanting
what can we do but thank you for mercy
consecrate our theories of Now
make holy our deeds because we
will not change
and only hope our good
will not be shadowed
by the blasphemy we live.

By Loni

Richmond

Through the tressels
of the brown train tracks
I can see:

Rows & rows
of tobacco leaves
rustling in the wind,

Rows & rows
of black, sweaty-bodies hunched
over the dark green,

A concrete overpass in the back
Semi-trucks replace the tracks,
That’s just the way it is now

And then we fade and return
From not so distant past,
It haunts our steps

Beneath beautiful train tracks
Brown and rusting

By Jeff

Check out Suheir Hammad. Suheir has been able to travel throughout the world via her poetry. She has read her poems in Ivy League Universities and on Brooklyn’s street corners. Her work has appeared in award winning anthologies, and in zines stapled together by queer youth collectives. As far as we know, Suheir was the first Palestinian starring in a Broadway show, and she continues to be the first Palestinian in many artistic spaces throughout the States.

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/poetry/video/
xmpo6_suheir-hammad-def-poetry/1