The skies cleared and the weather held up for the poetry slam at the Upper Arlington Arts Festival yesterday.
It was more an exhibition than a competitive slam, there were five of us competing for the honor Gina won last year.
I got there a bit early and walked around. I saw a lot of people holding brooms and remembered that Joanna mentioned seeing them last year. Could not find where they were being sold so I asked at the info tent and was essentially told to look behind me, where a large amount of people had gathered as if they were in line for Jeni's Ice Cream. But, they were watching an Amish man and his family make brooms. I went over, checked the prices and plunked down ten bucks for a broom to the owner who smiled broadly and said thank you.
Got some lemonade and while I was doing that I overheard this snippet of life in America from the couple working the kettle korn station.
She: People really seem to like those brooms.
He: Don't know why, you can get them cheaper at Wal-Mart.
Sure, you can do that, but where is the intrinsic value of seeing the man make your broom, to interact with his family. to eliminate the middle man?
People do not get pure capitalism anymore.
Ended up going second in the slam, did Everywhere at Once and came in second for the round. In round two I did Nobody's Poet, and got another good reaction from the sparse crown under the tent.
Then it was Gina's turn.
She did Obama's Desk, which as you can guess has some political overtones. As she was reading a woman walking by suddenly stopped behind her, then her jaw dropped and the mouth breathing took over. With her gaze locked on Gina she went around the side of the tent to where she could see the poet's face then pointed and started yelling.
We really could not hear what she said, something about Obama not needing a desk because he was on vacation. She never went into the tent or seating area. I was a bit worried that she would approach Gina and try to grab the mic from her, luckily that did not happen. She kept going on incoherently while Gina shot her a look and continued with the poem. I was told the woman tried to get her father's attention while she wandered off, continuing to point at Gina all the while.
I have to say I've been part of poetry events in which people were ticked off by a poem and said something about it. However I have never been part of an event in which a poet was reading in a public setting and a person who was not a part of the audience came in and started protesting. Gina used the Great Wrench of Poetry on the wingnut and brought it to the mic. It was awesome. She pissed off a complete stranger. With a poem.
The final standings were irrelevant after that even though I won, Joanna came in second, Gina third, Rachel fourth and Beverly fifth. We got to see art cause a visceral reaction, and we got to carry on.
And kudos to Louise who was capable and charming as she hosted her first poetry slam.
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