On October 21, students, parents and teachers gathered in the auditorium to hear some spoken-word poetry hosted by event sponsor and English teacher Mr. Geinosky. As they entered, people were met with a light and laid-back atmosphere.  Music from Geinosky’s iTunes library filled the room with a plethora of different music genres, ranging from Jimi Hendrix to contemporary indie style.

Poetry slams, while certainly expositions of students’ literary and performing skills, are technically a competition.  After reading their poem, a team of judges selected at random from the audience score the performance on a scale of 0.0 to 10.0, the latter being the best possible score.

“I know U. City kids,” said Geinosky, “and I don’t think we’ll see any zeros tonight.” However, according to poetry slam mantra, “It’s not about the points, it’s about the poetry.”

After explaining the rules and expectations of the slam to the audience, Geinosky kicked it off with a poem commemorating U-City’s first slam team.  Following him was English teacher Ms. Hackmeyer, who performed a “calibration” poem in order to give the judges their first opportunity to score a poem.

As the slam started, one thing became clear: we have some talented writers at U.City.  Each and every poem seemed to roll off the tongue, falling into interesting and complex rhythms.

The contestants “spat [their] hearts out,” said Geinosky.

The tri-color spotlights played off the poets as they threw themselves into their performances with vigor. Others passed it off as a joke, and a few spoke softly while looking each and every audience member full in the face.

At the end of the slam, the winners were announced by Geinosky.  In third place was Ashanti Borders, and in second was Christina Thompson.  The winner, Cliffon LeSueur-Brown, was entreated to read an encore poem.  However, before he could begin, latecomer James Lenard interrupted and usurped the floor with one of his works.  Afterwards, Cliffon was still able to read his victory poem.

If this sounds like something you would like to either attend or participate in, the next poetry slam is scheduled for the end of November.  See Geinosky in room 355 for more information.

Edited By Matthew Russell