by Libby Kelly
Daily Lobo
Three hours of intense, passionate, explosive poetry rocked the Outpost last Friday, earning the title of the citywide Grand Slam.
The poets in the Grand Slam put on an excellent show, preaching about everything from the Chihuahua Revolution to stories about rape, racist cops and prostitution.
They roared about political agendas, fallen heroes and Johnny Cash. Manuel Gonzales performed his epic about the battle between the Poet and the Wind after Mark Fischer sprinted through a fast-paced account of a speed trip.
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Images like "clear as New Mexico sky" and "smiles like rotting meat" heightened the intensity of the night.
However, many of them preached too much about politics and how screwed up the system is. Though the poets put the words together in different and musical ways, it still got monotonous to hear repeatedly how America squelches revolutionaries like Dr. King and Malcolm X.
The judges obviously didn't appreciate it too much either, scoring the political rhetoric lower than the poems that told stories.
In the first two rounds, every poet got their three minutes and nine seconds to rant, yell and scream about their views.
Five random judges scored poems on a one-to-10 scale with the lowest and highest scores dropped. The scores were added up and the top six poets make it to the final round.
To participate in the Grand Slam, poets had to win first or second place twice in the qualifying slams held during the past year.
The Albuquerque Grand Slam represented the best of the best.
Fifteen poets qualified this year and 13 competed: Erin Ambrose, Adan Baca, Cuffee, Carlos Contreras, Valerie Dow, Fischer, Damien Flores, Gonzales, Courtney Lurie, Jerry Mondragon, Kenn Rodriguez, Tony Santiago, Jasmine Sena and Danny Solis.
The four highest scoring poets were chosen to be on the Albuquerque Slam Team for the National Grand Slam in Chicago. Two poets were declared alternates.
The final round's scores were close all ranging between 27.1 and 28.4 - the top two scores within a tenth of a point of each other.
Santiago, former host of Insomnia's open mic, won the title of citywide champion with Rodriguez, Solis and Mondragon following close behind.
Santiago's open mic was where he and many other poets first publicly read their pieces. He was host for three years and has been reading as long.
"I was heartbroken and dead inside because my show is gone now," Santiago said. "This is kind of like being reborn."
Though jittery after his winning performance, Santiago commended the other 12 poets. Santiago praised the team, saying all the other members are better than him and that he was proud to be a part of it.
Santiago cited his family, girlfriend and anger as his main sources of inspiration, the latter shining through in "You Can Buy Land on Mars Now" and "I Am America," his winning poem.
For more information on poetry slams and readings in the Albuquerque area, visit www.abqpoetryslam.org and support your local poets.
