‘Good poetry is contagious’ at Outspoken

An ode to ketchup. An explanation of how “gangsta” Disney movies are. Political protests about Homeland Security and I-69. Audience members were treated to these and many other original poems Tuesday night at Union Board’s OUTSPOKEN Poetry Slam in the IMU Gallery. Six contestants competed for three prizes, with graduate student Marcus Wicker ultimately named as the winner. \n“The idea is that anyone can get up and do a poem that they wrote and not be judged harshly by the audience,” said senior Chris Impicciche, poetry coordinator for Collins Living-Learning Center and host of the evening’s open-mic portion.\nFollowing the open-mic session, students performed their own poetry over three rounds for the audience, including five randomly chosen judges. They competed not only for prizes — a Def Jam DVD for third place, magnetic poetry, a journal and books of poetry for second and a $50 Barnes and Noble gift certificate for the champion – but also for bragging rights.\nDana Anderson, an English professor, kicked off with a verse from a poetry collection, “The Rapture of Banality: a Symphony in Verse.” Each poem in the collection honors a common thing and No. 17, “Love Poem,” focused on ketchup, a bottle of which Anderson placed on a pedestal he constructed of a table and chair.\n“Oh, ketchup, noble condiment,” he said. “Tomato, pureed with sugar, salt and love.”\nAfter his ode, Anderson introduced the first contestant, freshman and IDS reporter Dion Hazelbaker, who contributed his “Loss of me” to round one.\nFreshman Austin Piech performed his first poetry slam with “Threat Level Orange.” Grad student Juan Berumen was third on the ticket, with part one of “He Answers,” followed by senior Sarah Taylor, whose “Please and Thank You,” ended with “we say, ‘fuck I-69.’”\nSophomore William Nichols performed next with “The losing battle.”\n“I pause, but not for applause,” he read. “Just a silence for the cause.” \nWicker rounded out the competition with “The Problem” before the group moved on to round two, in which Piech gave the audience a choice between “Pinko Commie Son of a Bitch” or “I am not a scientist;” “Son of a Bitch” won.\n“I hope every Republican has a gay disabled daughter who wants interracial marriage with a poor illegal immigrant,” he read.\nNichols’s contribution to round two was “The plight of the hopeless romantic.” \n“Show not your gentle side, for it will get you killed,” he read.\nWicker finished up round two with a piece about a sorority girl, “Kristy,” who asked why he talks “so black.”\n“There are no stupid questions, only inquisitive idiots,” he told the audience. “I got tired of trying to sound like Bryant Gumble at parties.”\nAfter Hazelbaker’s “Me and my buddies got into a religious discussion” and Wicker’s “Extremism: the misguided practices of spiritualism,” Taylor gave a piece describing how she wanted to orgasm.\nNichols followed, explaining “Disney makes the greatest gangster movies ever,” from Bambi – raised in a one-parent home, his mother gets shot – to “Alice in Wonderland, doing every drug that she can.” \nAfter Wicker’s final piece, the scores were tallied – Peich took third, Nichols won second and Wicker came in as champion. Anderson wrapped up the evening with a haiku – “my favorite, because it’s so short.”\nSophomore Eric Goode said he enjoyed the variety of themes and styles.\n“I thought it was amazing, especially the Disney one,” he said. \nAnderson said he thought the poets showed impressive skill and range.\n“Good poetry is contagious,” he said. “There were several people jotting things down because of the performance ... the more we can have that in student life, the better.” \nImpicciche and sophomore Alexa Lopez, the Union Board performing arts director, said they were happy with the turnout, the performances and the audience participation. \n“We’re going to do a monthly poetry slam (next year),” Lopez said.