This is something I've really wanted to get out there for a while. I came across this the other day when I was looking for places to share poetry at in the area. I was expecting to find coffee houses with someone beating on the bongos, the stereotypical TV version and I think the way it was featured on "Boy Meets World." I figured Mr. Feeny can't be wrong, right? Well what I found was what's called poetry Slams. In my opinion, this stuff is insane. I've been doing some research on it and its amazing. People compete across the world to be the master of "spoken word". A lot of times the judges are picked out of the audience - how cool is that? Five judges score the poets from 1-10, and the highest and lowest scores are dropped. Then the lowest scoring half of poets are dropped at the end of each round. Essentially, half the poets are cut each round until there is a winner. I've posted my favorite video yet below, I really think it's amazing. The poem is called "Scratch and Dent", and its spoken by Eric Darby. Before you dismiss the video as some hippy and boring recitation of poem, give it a listen. It's... almost a spoken word rap, but better cuz the messages in Slam Poetry are often positive and uplifting while observing the world we live in. It's hard to describe, but it is an incredibly energizing style of poetry and incredibly impressive. Much different than what we learn in school, but i like it! Check it out!



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two

"being in love is like being in love.
even trees are in love."

-kirby strunk

one

Betty Crocker Can Shove It

I sealed the mold
filled with liquid you
with a simple meeting by the pond

placed behind the loudest kettle
I simmered jealousy and bubbled disappointment
where’s the recipe card for second place?

a full year later
the egg timer sounds in bitter celebration
I’ve lost your independent freckles and your crooked teeth

he is the mold and you have been molded
and I am lost among the side dishes
on the dinner table of relationships


-twilight.10.2.07

number oNe

Blog Post Number 1! Where to begin? So much poetry so little time. Well, first off, welcome to Forty Two Cellar Doors! Poetry, music, the arts, it's all here! (or will be soon!). If your looking for a place to see and discuss some new poetry, hear about some old favorites, or learn about some crazy new happenings in the art world, well, you're in the right place. What will we talk about? Who knows! But hopefully your intrigued enough to keep reading. So back to the big question, where do we begin. I guess we'll start with a poem I just wrote (sorry for being vain, haha, but theres a point to looking at it!)

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She Was Beautiful...

I had worked my life away for that car…
Dreamed of it since I was a little child,
Planning out every exact specification,
Supervising its execution every step of the way.

Spinning chrome rims on 20 inch wheels
Which were specially imported from Italy
And designed to be wider and lower
For grip on high speed turns in the dead of night.

Painted by the best money could buy,
It was a deeper blue than the Caribbean itself,
With bright red flames engulfing both doors,
And a white racing stripe running right up the middle.

The pushrod 8.3 liter dodge engine roared louder
Than a Hell’s Angels Family Reunion party,
With all 505 horses galloping under the hood
Racing to make it from zero to sixty in 4.0

All Scrap metal compared to the perfect girl
Driving it away from my shattered world,
Leaving me with nothing but regret
As I watch the taillights fade into the distance.

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Well, here's what's on my mind. What do people think about poems with a twist? I wrote this poem given the following premise: "Amass numerous details, and then come to some startling conclusion." If your trying to think of some other examples like this, look at "The Filling Station" by Elizabeth Bishop or "Lying In a Hammock" by James Wright. For my poem, some people said that the sudden twist was jolting and distracting. Others said they liked it because it reinforced the true meaning of the poem. A famous author who visited our class, Michael Salcman, said that the "twist" can be an incredibly powerful tool. I personally tend to like it. Straight poems are good, but at the same time, they can put you to sleep eventually. If you can cleverly insert some type of twist, it's like an alarm clock going off in the readers head. It knocks them back and makes them think, "Wow, what just happened here?" Another comment that I got for my poem is that I never explained how or why it ended the way it did, with the girl driving the guy's car away. How did the girl get HIS car that he worked so hard on? Well for me, its not something I want to answer. I want the reader to fill in the answer themselves. There are many possibilities. Maybe the car was never his, but his life sucks and he just watched the girl and car of his dreams drive by, just adding insult to injury. Then again, maybe he had it all, but he was so into the car, perfection, and achievement that the perfect girl left him. I dunno, but I would rather you fill in what feels best for you. Or do many of you out there think the blanks should be filled by the poet? I'm interested to hear your thoughts! Also feel free to leave any comment about how we can improve the site, or even send us your own works and we'll see if we can't get a few up!