THE 1ST WORD WAR
C Ra McGuirt
i came in 3rd with a 21
in the last round of the first
nashville poetry slam. i wasn't disappointed
much. to tell the ugly honest truth,
i was pretty goddam mad
at myself.
after all, the month before
i'd been on fire,&beat the scores
of 3 good poets in a row
with never less than 24.
maybe i was lame, i thought,
or maybe the judges were bored.
in a day or 2, i got a call
from beatlick joe, who'd been involved
in setting up the slam:
that one judge didn't like you, man.
he said you were TOO LOUD!
he said you were TOO WEIRD!
he gave you a ONE!
huh.
well, i'll be damned...
a ONE, you said? a half point each
for content AND delivery?
because i was TOO LOUD?
because i was TOO WEIRD?
thanks for calling
to tell me i won.
everyone keep winning.
