Potential

Have you ever did something that impress somebody?
That would be Jenny, my new Slam Poetry coach. We have started training for October Sac Poetry Slam. She training me to write and perform powerful performance poems and improve my ranking with competition.  I definitely wanted this to happen and I am going to follow her lead to get it.  I have known Jen for almost a year now. We met at Joe Montoya’s poetry unplugged at Luna’s cafe. She has watched me perform spoken word poetry and participate in the Sac Slam every third friday for a year. In her words,  I am an inspiring poet who has potential but I am still an amateur.

The Last Time

I have been ranked last in every poetry slam since, I have been performing at Luna’s cafe.  Even Cheshire has beaten me in a slam and she doesn’t do it on a regular basis.  (I tell her that her poems are very unique plus her sense of humor is perfect.)
This month’s slam, I didn’t want to participate because I didn’t have any poems that could outmatched the competition. I volunteered to be the sacrificial poet. But, the participation was low (More audience than poets) so, I was cohorts into playing.

My first poem (Reflection) was fully memorized, but I struggled on the presentation.  This event got me a low score.My next poem (No Fear) was stronger. I got the audience chanting the chorus and it boosted my score.

No surprise.  I still came last.

The Call

On Saturday, I get a call from Jenny. “Hey, CharRon. I would like to start  working with you this Monday on slam poetry. Let’s work together on increasing your score in a poetry slam. Are you in?”  I had nothing to lose and this seemed like a great opportunity to improve. Plus, I can pick up some pointers from Jenny Lynn herself (a Sacramento SlamMaster). She will be my Mickey (from Rocky). (Cue “Eye of the Tiger”.)

On Sunday, she explains what we will do. I agreed to learn in her writing workshop and become her new disciple.

On Monday, I arrived and we started working on a new poem.  She wanted me to rework my military story I presented at Truthiness Tales in August.  She enjoyed and believe it is a great candidate for a slam poem.  So, I used one event from my story.  I reworked, extended and called the poem: The Package.

Test Run

On Wednesday, she invited me to perform a poem at Midtown Outloud.  I was going to perform Missed Opportunities but she wanted to hear the new poem on a test run.  So, I performed the new poem.  Success! The crowd loved it. It blew their minds with all the physical scenes and Drill Sargeant’s antics. After the applause, We regrouped and talk about changes for the poem. She was impressed that I was able to created and perform my poem in 3 days. I am serious about improving and will work hard to get to that new ranking.  I am not out the woods yet.

Keep your Eyes out for the next Sac slam at Luna’s every 3rd friday of the month. I will be there.

 She will be my Mickey (from Rocky). (Cue “Eye of the Tiger”.)