I done seen a lot of things at a cons, but the thing that will always surprise me more than detailed cosplays is seeing people gather to hear poetry. I attended thinking it would be a small gathering, but I stood in a line that wrapped through the Que room then spilled outside and around the corner. Mind you, this was a Saturday too, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. Dream Con was taking place in Houston, Texas, which always had a strong poetry scene. Back when the National Poetry Slam was still around, Houston would always send a slam team. Over the years, I’d often see them compete in bouts at NPS and thought that organization is gone, to this day, Houston still sends teams to take part in the Southern Fried Poetry Slam.

For those that don’t know, a poetry slam is hosted by a Master of Ceremonies (Emcee if you nasty). Poets come up to read a poem under a certain time limit. After the poet is finished, the Emcee will ask the five judges to give their scores ranging from 0-10 (decimals are optional). The lowest and highest score are dropped, the remaining three are added together to get the poet’s final score. This is traditionally how a poetry slam operates. There are some variations, but the function remains the same. You could almost call it a tradition. Which is why I found it a surprise that there wasn’t a host. I’ve been competing in lam since 2003. I ain’t ever seen that before. Then, I was struck by another curve ball. There weren’t any judges selected for the slam either. Instead, Dream Con used a QR code that could be scanned where votes would be tallied for the winner.

This had me entirely confused. I had come up in an era where traditionally in slam the host would let the audience know that they are part of the how. The audience can boo the judges if they don’t like the score, cheer, and be vocal for lines at stuck out to them during the poems. For this slam, the poets were just standing up and going to read their poems on stage. As I watched the performances, I had thought how certain elements I’d been accustomed to in slam weren’t present but as the first poet, D, performed her poem about her toxic relationships if they were X-Men, the audience came alive. “When I become possessive I channel my inner Magnet. Gather all the iron in your heart so that it only pumps for me.” The audience wasn’t told how to react but again, this is Houston, Texas. They didn’t need to be told.

Now D started the slam off with a nerd poem, and I wondered if the other poets were going to follow suit. Which made the slam interesting as we began to see different ranges of poems being performed. It’s always amazing to see that although it’s a nerd convention, the poems don’t have to stick to that theme. Some of the great lines I heard and had to jot down were:

“Look for the Black hole in my aorta, you’ll find your exit.” – Lai Vee (@Lai_x2)

“I pledge allegiance to a flag that has never flown for me”/
“Ms. Frizzle gets frazzled when I tell her Jesus is Black” – Kryphtic (@Kryphtic)

“I had a date with destiny. She stood me up for fate“/
“My inner me is my enemy… who I am is fighting with who I’m destined to be” – Sheldon (@onedon.e)

It was funny as we saw D open the show in a Trafalgar Law cosplay while other poets came dressed up, casual, and flashy. We then saw Poetik Lee Speaking in a tattered Clark Kent outfit with his Superman uniform being revealed form underneath. I found it fitting that the slam had unintentionally come full circle. Which also made me realize, perhaps this is a new wave of doing slam. There are elements of slam poetry that could make people self-conscious, especially 5 random strangers putting numerical value to your work. Dream Con making the voting happen via QR code alleviates that element that may make folks nervous or anxious. I stopped competing for the National Poetry Slam in 2014. This was an era that I grew up in. Though this slam was ran differently, it is good to see that, though the people and voices may change, an audience full of strangers remains the same and they want to see everyone succeed.

Such an amazing element of the slam was seeing that it was taking place in Houston and how the community reacts to poetry. It was such a joy to see. I have performed and been in East Coast audiences, Mid West audiences, and Bay Area audiences. This was my first time being an audience member in a Southern slam; the unity was incredible. As much as it is about the poets performing, the audience place a large role in the event. This Dream Con crowd was active, especially after Kryphtic let them know that they didn’t have to gold clap here. They heard a line so good they kept shouting “rewind” for the poet to run it back. That’s the makings of a great audience and amazing poets, which give way to an equation for a memorable event to be part of.

Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you? Sign up here! Follow us on BlueSky ,Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Instagram!

The post Dream Con Poetry Slam Remixes Tradition appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.