ENG1DB Poetry Analysis Unit:

Exploring SLAM Poetry

“I SLAM, therefore I AM!”

  • One of the most vital and energetic movements in poetry during the 1990s, slam has revitalized interest in poetry in performance. Poetry began as part of an oral tradition, and somepoets are devoted to the spoken and performed aspects of their poems. This interest was reborn through the rise of poetry slams across America; while many poets in academia found fault with the movement, slam was well-received among young poets and poets of diverse backgrounds as a democratizing force. This generation of spoken word poetry is often highly politicized, drawing upon racial, economic, and gender injustices, as well as current events for subject manner.
  • A slam itself is simply a poetry competition in which poets perform original work alone or in teams before an audience, which serves as judge. The work is judged as much on the manner and enthusiasm of its performance as its content or style, and many slam poems are not intended to be read silently from the page.

Characteristics of SLAM Poetry:

  • It is anoriginalpiece of writing
  • It is written about something that the poetcares about and/or feelsstrongly about
  • It ispersonal; it expresses a personal story/struggle in an intensely emotional style ORthe content of the slam poem istopical (a current, controversial, hot button issue)
  • It ispowerful, sincere, and moving, while still being relatable
  • It isrhythmic and passionate
  • It sounds good when it is read aloud with lots of energy and emotion

SLAM Poetry Example:

"I Am" (A Poem about Life)

I am the swollen shiner from life's sucker punches,
Bloodied noses from left field jabs,
The kidney that feels the brunt
When you get stabbed
In the back.
I am the intricate plan
Designed so you can only fail,
The question with no right answer.
I am the fighting chance and strands of hope
That morally pull you through times of disaster.
Sometimes there
Is distance,
Silence,
No answer...
And I am the truth that interrupts.
I am that pimple you just want to
Push, pop, pull, peel, puncture, then watch puss
I am not an advocate of alliteration...anyway...
I am not deviant
Though I deviate
A bit lenient
Yet I gravitate
To harsh measures when needed,
I am everything you don't want me to be
When you don't need it.
I am those fist punched holes in bedroom walls
That paint the stages of
Your first broken heart in middle school.
I am that child who scares parents
Sneaking out the back door at 16,
Careless,
3 AM,
Bottle of Jack Daniels
Flying off the handles
of life
And landing in shambles,
I am everything between high and low,
Sometimes the hero
A knight's mare,
Sometimes the zero
A nightmare.
I am cut classes and smoking Newports in the woods,
A sneaky degenerate
Who started a suburban black market,
Stolen and sold goods
Were just the first target.
But I won't let this poem paint me into a corner,
I plead the fifth,
And most of those dudes are goners
A faded clique,
I was only part of their network
Because their net worth
Made my net work,
But eventually they were just a band of bandits.
I banned it.

But forget it - I slam,
I am,
The realization
That nukes will not be our finale,
The solar system has plans,
And we see it through weather,
Mother Nature has it in for us,
We're damned.
I am embarrassment because I always say the wrong stuff.
Filterless.
My breath is old cheese
Because I live with that foot in my mouth.
But I must speak out,
I must speak up,
I must be heard so long as I also listen.
I am the words,
Of the speechless,
The cries,
Of the scared,
I am my own voice,
And I can be yours too.
I am the one,
Who can hold your deepest secrets,
I won't reveal them,
But I may use them against you at times...
I am rhymes
Nonsensical
That sound intellectual.
I'm the Jeep Wrangler
Of slam poetry,
Not supposed to be
Clean,
I am human being,
alien being,
Extraterrestrial special,
Inhaling then regurgitating scenes
With a personal twist
I am cursin'
Just to scratch the itch.
I am slightly more direct with my verses,
Than you may have heard before,
This is more personal,
So I let you in on the ground floor.
I tend to be less abstract,
These aren't blanket statements,
They'rehard facts
That were hard fought,
This isn't about theory for me.
I say what I've seen,
What I've done,
The dirt,
So I am loose handcuffs,
I got you,
But it won't hurt.
I am
A poem about life,
Because a poem
Is a composition,
And life
Is a temporary condition,
And I am,
Inking this
For the records.