Poetry through the smoke

As the sun set on the Ped Mall on the 1st of May a small group of people gathered in the Tobacco Bowl to take part in a poetry slam being hosted by the Concrete Muse Poet Society. The event, which was scheduled to kick off at 7 P.M., kicked off a few minutes early as the host of the event started by grabbing the mic of the small PA plugged in at the front of the shop and began the slam. Her poems incorporated strong visual images with repetition to deliver her lines of "Cat pee on the floor, cat pee on the floor." The crown was fluctuating in and out the doors as the performances continued, some for the poetry, most for business. The second performer grabbed the mic and began to slam on more conventional themes found at a slam. He read on injustice, corporatism, capitalism, and the evils of a media controlled populous. He delivered his message with much gusto and was quite convincing in his tone. The third performer was a well recognized face in the Iowa City, most would know her as the lady that walks the downtown selling hemp bracelets and homemade crafts. She pulled out her loaded notebook and began flipping through her selections. Her poems were quick and numerous, a short applause crackled after each selection. The fourth performer took a different approach to the event. Being pulled off the street to and coaxed into reading, he read a longer selection from Edgar Allen Poe. He read at an accelerated pace which offered a different perspective on the classic “The Raven.” The readings continued to cycle through the select few poets in attendance. As new performers continued to show up they were added to the list. Local promoter Tyrell Spitt made an appearance after his hip-hop show in the Ped Mall and revitalized the crowd. The place erupted with applause after he began spitting his slams. This was the pinnacle of the event. People began coming in from outside to listen to his methodically lyrical verse. Tyrell won the only prize of the night, a journal for scribing resistance art. As the sun began to wane, bodies started filling up the previously empty chairs. The performers represented a wide demographic of backgrounds and ages.


The host of the performance announced that this would be a weekly event on Friday from 7-9PM at the Tobacco Bowl. The event was not technically structured like an actual poetry slam, it was more of an open mic reading. The audience was responsive after each poet read, sometimes only for the sake of being courteous however, and poets were not eliminated. This was probably due to the lack of participants, but considering this was the first event of its kind hopefully the word will spread and more people will be open to participation. As the evening wound to a close the crowd began to disperse back into the twilight of the bustling streets, people left in high spirits.

By: Spencer Poulos