Story by Meaghan Morawski

Photo by Sean Danaher

A typical night at the Eugene Poetry Slam, hosted every second Saturday of the month, rarely excludes talk of love, “that’s what she said” jokes, and fashion. Some members of the audience drove an hour to Eugene bookstore Tsunami Books; others flew across the country to make it. The lights are all out, save for the ones shining on whomever the current poet may be. The seats are packed and onlookers laugh happily at the strange, sometimes saucy comments of MC Jorah LaFleur.
“Welcome to the Eugene Poetry Slam season opener! I will be your host on this strange, Willy Wonka boat ride. Please keep your arms and legs inside at all times,” LaFleur says into the mic.
The crowd shouts, jokes, and cheers as the poetry slam begins, and the clamor doesn’t let up throughout the night. The poet interacts with the crowd, the crowd howls back, and a rhythmic madness ensues without pause for all three hours of the event.
The slam begins with an open mic, then a locally featured poet, and a nationally featured poet. A short intermission follows during which judges are selected and poets prepare for the second half of the slam. The same level of audience noise continues throughout the whole 15 minutes. Then the main event begins.

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Slam poetry was born in 1985, the child of poetry and the genius of a construction worker named Marc Smith. Slam spent its early years in a jazz club in Chicago. On its first birthday, the new art form went from being an occasional activity to a full-blown, weekly poetry “slam” (coming from a mixture of phrasing that is used in both bridge and baseball). Decades later there are hundreds of poetry slams hosted across the United States every year.
“Slam was invented to bring people to poetry,” says poet Eliel Lucero.
Lucero, when not writing poetry or working as a DJ, bartender, musician, or as anything else available and of interest to him, spends much of his time frequenting poetry groups. This includes attending and participating in poetry slams in his native state of New York.
“New York has four different slams and the scenes are very different,” he says. “Right now, in what I’m a part of the focus is always on new shit and better shit—edit, write better, and perform well. You always have to be on top of your game and everything has to be wonderful and your metaphors have to be precise and your imagery has to be solid.”
Lucero spent early October working on a poetry tour for an anthology entitled Gape Seed, where some of his work appears. He was the Eugene Poetry Slam’s first national feature of the season. Though from the East Coast, Lucero is no stranger to the poetry slam scene of Eugene. He says that the slam at Tsunami Books is much more relaxed than he’s used to, but that he enjoys the supportive and accepting atmosphere it lends to new and returning slam poets alike.

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Slam, though a graded form of poetry recitation, does not always focus on quality. Sometimes emotion wins the day.
Twenty-two year-old Samuel Kimble of Green Bay, Wisconsin, says poetry is an emotional experience for him. Kimble started writing poetry a year ago; since then he’s begun reading and sharing his work with other poets of the area. He says writing and sharing poetry can be cathartic, but it can also be a darker and more depressing form of creation.
“I don’t always feel great after I write it,” Kimble says. “Sometimes I take breaks, but I like words and always end up coming back to it.”
Even though it is nerve-wracking to perform personal poems in front a large group of people, Kimble says it’s nice to know that a slam can be a welcoming and constructive environment.
Writer, poet, and painter Jason Graham in Bend, Oregon, agrees that the performance experience can be a bit overwhelming the first few times, but that overall a slam is a great environment in which to grow.
“The slam world unto itself is a very wonderful thing,” he says. “I got into it because slams just popped up here in Bend. There’s a really strong community for poetry slams here. You get people from all walks of life and skill sets. It makes for a really rich environment.”
Graham, 28, grew up appreciating the power of words and rhymes through cultural bastions like Sesame Street, Mother Goose, and Shel Silverstein. He has done everything from winning poetry slams to running poetry slams. Graham finds that a slam can either be a great boost or a sizeable hit to one’s ego, but overall he believes that such events offer new poets a chance to improve their poetry.
“Just the ability to take something that is very true and specific to you and to present it to a group of people that you don’t really know, and to have them receive that and give you accolades or communicate that they understand where you’re coming from—that is one of the best feelings of all time, to really feel supported and understood in your work.”
Eugene Poetry Slam host Jorah LaFleur finds that the shared personal truths and feelings are what make poetry slams so rewarding. LaFleur believes that what is most empowering about slam is the fact that everyone is listening to you intently for the three-minute presentation.
“I think being able to actively utilize your voice to express something very true or important or beautiful to you is a really powerful thing for someone who has that desire for expression,” LaFleur says. “A slam creates this little canvas for people to come and paint on because you have these three minutes and you get to own them; they’re totally yours and you’re given the respect of so much silence and so much attention. I don’t think that’s an easy thing to find.”
The monthly Eugene Poetry Slam is open to all ages and LaFleur encourages people from all walks of life to come and express themselves through poetry.
“You are winning by getting up and just meeting the challenge that you’re setting for yourself. To go up and bare your soul to whatever level and in whatever way you’re going to choose to do so—I think it’s huge.”

For more on slam poetry, read our related story, Talk Therapy.