Ryan Prins' Blog

It didn’t matter what the content was. It didn’t matter where the venue was. It wasn’t about placing one person above another. It didn’t matter that some were better than others. It didn’t matter what my life had for me outside the club. Last night, it just didn’t matter.

For me, last night was something new that I had never experience in person. It was the Seattle Slam Poetry Finals at the Catwalk Club in Pioneer Square. I have seen slam poetry before on television but I have never actually witnessed it or felt it in person. It was an experience that I was not ready for, but was more than willing to take on to expand who I am as a person.

I had the absolute pleasure of going with Casey last night to this event. It was way cool to go and hang out with her and to talk about anything and everything before, during, and after the event. But, the thing that just blew me away last night was the event itself.

The club has a really good vibe and it was a great place to just chill, relax, have a drink, and talk it up with friends. But, once the night started, it was on from there.

The music was really good. Well, actually, it was better than good. It was the kind of hip-hop that was easy to listen to and that you don’t need to think twice about. You could just sit and enjoy it for the art that it was. I wish that I could remember the name of the group, since they were really good. Wait, never mind, the group was called the Jennifer Johns Band. Remembering the name was the hardest part of that feeling. The rest came quite easily and came back very quickly.

After the band completed their set it was then off to a few warm-up poets and then a short animated film that featured the work of renown local slam poet Buddy Wakefield. This short was just amazing. The way that it was put together and how it flowed through out was just something that made it really easy to get into and to really enjoy.

But, the thing that blew my mind that night was that Casey and I were asked to judge this event. Ok, this kind of took us by surprise when we were asked to do this. However, it was awesome. We were apart of a group of people that were there to help select the four slam poets that would then go on to compete at nationals and represent Seattle. It was kind of crazy that we had the power to do that, especially since I have never attended one of these before.

The eight poets that were competing that night were all really good. Their content varied from sex & gays to ‘the man’, NASDAQ, and wanting to grow up. The content was everywhere. Each poet had 2 poems to perform and then after the top 4 were selected the top two competed for a $200 prize.

All of the poets were really good and the event was something that I won’t soon forget. But, the one thing it did for me was that it took me outside of my reality that I live in right now. It took me away from my problems, praises, and worries. For those 4 hours I had nothing to worry about. Nothing, except for what was in front of me.