Poetry champs have the last word

John Walch, 08-24-1998.

A hopeful audience member waves a wad of money while another holds up a crude sign saying ``need 1 ticket.'' The steady rain outside the Paramount Theatre on Saturday night has caused the ink to run, making the page look like a mascara-stained face after a long cry. But the sadness instantly disperses. Here's a man that says he has an extra ticket.

A crowd gathers. Bidding begins. But bidding for what? Tickets to the Super Bowl? The Led Zeppelin reunion tour? An evening of song and dance by Barney, the purple dinosaur? No, no . . . tonight, all the bidding is for poetry.

That's right -- poetry.

A rowdy, sellout-crowd of more than 1,300 jammed the Paramount -- laughing, weeping and applauding for more than four hours at the 1998 National Poetry Slam Finals. In the end, a team champion was crowned (from New York City), along with individual champion (Reggie Gibson, of Bellwood, Ill.). Yet the overriding story was the enthusiastic celebration of the spoken word and performance by both participants and the Austin audience at the closing night of this four-day competition.

Poems of power, beauty and insight were the rule for the night. Lines such as : ``I'm the 'or' in your 'gasm' '' (Derrick Brown, Laguna Beach, Calif.) or ``You can't fool God. Jesus was born at night, but it wasn't last night'' (Poetri, Los Angeles) brought howls of laughter. Images such as: ``Your hands freeze into the shape of holding on'' (Ray McNiece, Cleveland), and ``Ideas kiss similes so deeply metaphors get jealous'' (Stephen Colman, New York) generated awe-inspired silence. And then there were lines that brought tears: ``They killed my cousin, G.P., and the kink fell out of my hair'' (Patricia Johnson, Roanoke, Va. ).

The lines on their own, though, fail to convey the manner in which these poets used their voices, the rhythm of their bodies, and words to deliver a poem. The Cleveland team performed a poem about working in a dull corporation with one member droning in syncopated monotony while two others provided insidious white-noise that blankets life in an office. After the poem, the audience members leapt to their feet, demanding high-scores; the performance earned the first ``10' ' of the night from one judge.

The Dallas team had similar success with a group piece about three young boys' fantasies for a black, a redneck and a gay superhero. The poem was so winningly performed and showed such refreshing humor in the face of politically correct multiculturalism that judges (who are picked randomly from the audience) couldn't help but award it the only perfect score (30.0) of the night.

Competition was tight. Final places were determined by a tenth of a point. Ultimately, though, a winner had to emerge. Saturday night -- or more like Sunday morning -- the marathon slam finished up around 12:30 a.m. New York City edged Dallas by a half a point in the team competition; Gibson won the title of National Slam Champion with a virtuosic poem about Jimi Hendrix delivered at Stratocastor speed.

Lynne Procope, from the New York team, echoing sentiments that all felt, said, `` To come here and watch all these poets tearing up the stage, it makes you feel unworthy to win.'' But she and her teammates are proud of their accomplishment. Team New York earned its points the hard way. Procope says slam ``is not about who you slept with last night. We didn't go for laughs, because we need it (slam) to be serious and legitimate, and that's what we forced it to be about tonight."

Several poems from the week that were deemed ``so good they had to get on stage'' were showcased at the beginning of the night. Former Boston Globe columnist Patricia Smith performed a smoky, lyrical and melancholy poem in 4/4 time that proved her future holds a lot more than scandal.

Even though Phil West, co-director of the National Slam, had only two hours of sleep during the four-day competition, he still appeared energized after the show. ``The joy of the experience was overwhelming. It was completely rewarding for both poets and audiences,'' said West, who is hoping to assemble a highlight tape of the competition.

Slam results

* Team competition

1st: New York (116.2)

2nd: Dallas (115.7)

3rd: Los Angeles (115.1)

4th: Cleveland (114.9)

* Individual competition

1st: Reggie Gibson,

Bellwood, Ill. (59.3)

2nd: Derrick Brown, Laguna Beach, Calif. (58.2)

3rd: Brian Comisky, Boston (57.8)

4th: Sarah Holbrook,

Cleveland (57.7)

5th: Cass King, Vancouver, B.C. (56.8)

6th: Patricia Johnson, Roanoke, Va. (53.8)

Copyright © 1998, The Austin American-Statesman