Poetry slams are intense. Filled with politics, hurt, laughter and always music, they have an energy and emotional involvement that can be compared to an amazing concert you just danced for hours at. And the finals for the inaugural UW Collegiate Slam on Tuesday night at the Wisconsin Union Theater were an impressive display of the young creative talent the state has to offer in a genre that is becoming more and more popular.
Around 300 people hiked through the snow to see students perform their rapid blend of hip-hop and poetry. The slam, hosted by the in the In Van Ert's first-round poem, the freshman from St. Paul expressed the seductiveness of alcohol. She ended her performance with the line, "Always losing control over how one lives. So baby, can I buy you a drink?" Her second poem was hilarious, bemoaning the reality of being awkward. Snow, a freshman from Boston, performed a second-round poem about the worth of women: "Brothers, you got nothing on us queens...." she declared, "the only way we would be confined to the depths of a kitchen is if you are talking about how freshly we can cook up a mission -- of revolution, of power, of love, of peace." Some poems were heartbreaking; some gave the audience a chance to laugh. All four will now move on to compete for UW-Madison at the Collegiate National Poetry Slam, which will be held at the El Rey Theater in downtown Albuquerque on Saturday, April 5, 2008.
