Nitty Gritty Slam, March 7

This was the Open Mic night part of this bi-monthly (1st & 3rd Tuesdays) Slam/Open Mic at The Low Beat on Central Ave. Amani, our host, started us off with a affirmation poem about “feeling your awesome.”

The first one on the sign-up sheet, Raymo, announced “I’m not a poet,” then did a 3-part free-style piece, “Hurt, Dirt, Shirt” including sections about his mother being beaten, his fighting back as a young boy. Amani slipped in another performance, then I was up & read sections from my new A.P.D. (alternating poetic device) chapbook Inauguration Raga, then “What Makes America Great #102.”

Poetyc Visionz performed a playful piece riffing on the names of celebrities. JJ, who was here for the first time, read a rhyming poem. This was also the first time here for Jeremiah Paterson, who tried a piece from memory, but had to abandon it. Black Sinatra, with sound by P.V., did a rap on letting her go. Liv took us out of the City with a piece about walking in the woods. Poetyc Visionz was back with a piece that played on song titles.

Sammy read an emotional “Unsent Letter to my Dad."  B. Burgess began with a narrative, then a short poem on Y2K, & finished with a comedy rap on, of all things, race wars.

During the open mic Amani had been circulating a sheet for the creation of a group poem, or as the Dadaist had called it, an Exquisite Corpse, & at the end read it with a couple of compatriots, a romp through the chance juxtaposition of lines that just can’t help but be amusing.

Nitty Gritty Slam is at The Low Beat, 335 Central Ave., Albany, NY, 1st & 3rd Tuesdays at 7PM.