A Recap

How close was last night's slam?

So close that the last poet on the mic had a chance to win it all.

Congratulations to Vernell Bristow for winning the Grand Slam. She will be representing Writers' Block at the Individual World Poetry Slam in Charlotte in December. She did her best and it showed. Pure class.

There was so much fine work on the stage at Kafe Kerouac. Dain and Marshall were both incredibly solid.

Scott Woods told us how much he dislikes someone's Bedtime Prayers. The crowd loved it.

Rachel Wiley had the high score of the night with a three minute poem that was edited down to one. It worked!

Ethan hit home for me with a piece about finding love away from the computer.

I hate going on after Rose Smith. She's too damn good to follow. She performed, using the whole stage. Really fine work.

I was the last poet to read. Thought I was out of it so I did An Obscene Phone Call from Mr. Potato Head to leave 'em laughing. If I had scored a 29.9 I would have won it all. It was not meant to be. Not this year. I did get the only ten of the night from the low scoring but consistent and fair judges.

Rachel Reid did a wonderful job as emcee, keeping the energy in the room up. Joanna was on the netbook, updating the slam live on Facebook.

The young lady whose cell phone went off during last week's slam came back. I was pleased to know I did not scare her off!

It's a bit of a relief that slam season, for me, is pretty much over. I think I'm doing it again at the Upper Arlington Arts Festival. Time to reassess, evaluate and ultimately, get back to work. I love what we do.

The streets is watching.