The Lamron

Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Keith Walters A sizeable audience gathered in the KnightSpot Wednesday night for the spoken word artists Tristan Silverman (above) and Tara Hardy known as "Raucous Ink." The duo was also joined by surprise guest Rachel McKibbens.

Geneseo's spoken word poets, Different Now, kicked off this semester's series of events with the Mudslinger's Poetry Slam competition and a dynamic performance by the visiting poets known as Raucous Ink.

The poetry slam, which took place on Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. in the KnightSpot, featured some veteran competitors including juniors Deb Bertlesman, who additionally hosted the event, and Ingamar Ramirez. Two more familiar faces to the poetry scene, junior Donat De La Cruz and freshman Patrick "Patches" Burke, as well as first-time competitor senior Jill Capewell rounded out the set list.

To begin the event, senior Jeremy Wind and junior Lauren Fox acted as "sacrificial poets" who read poems that allowed the judges to warm up and the audience to get comfortable with the slam poetry atmosphere. The slam was divided into two rounds during which the poets each recited one piece and were scored between zero and 10.

Ramirez, who was selected from a hat to begin the competition, started with a strong poem some may have recognized from last semester. In the poem, indicative of his best work, he creates a kind of magical world, which in this case becomes frightening with lines such as, "I want the last drawing of you to be shaded in crayon not outlined in chalk."

Next up was Bertlesman, who brought with her two brand new poems and vulnerability on stage that may have been startling to anyone who had seen her perform previously. Bertlesman was unable to recall the words of her first poem from memory, but recovered with a feminist poem so powerful and emotionally difficult, it was easy to forgive her when she ended with "Sorry that took so long."

The competition stayed close when De La Cruz astounded the audience with his cathartic recitation of "Silhouettes," and continued to tighten up as Burke, always the entertainer, impressed with his dynamic stage presence. Both tackled big topics with supreme delivery.

Finishing out the round, Capewell tried her hand at slam with a poem entitled "William Carlos Williams" and easily conquered all of its elements including wit, humor and a hard-hitting ending.

Continued...

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