Word: poetry
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Dates: during 1998-1998
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...sticky as a locker room. I am on the hotel patio, waiting for the lineup for tonight's semifinal bouts to be posted, wondering how long we can stay in the saddle of this bucking bronco called Slam. "We" are the Los Angeles team--Thea Iberall, Poetri (yes, his name is Poetri), Jerry Quickley and I--four poets, linked by a love of words and a passion for competition. We are in Austin to sling verse and reap scores in the ninth--and largest--National Poetry Slam in history. Forty-five teams and 14 individuals are here from 26 states...
Finally, the team competition starts. We each get just three minutes onstage. Poetri leads out with Preacher, a soul-stirring pitch against hypocrisy. I'm next. I've never faced a crowd so big. I like it. And they like me. My score of 28.9 pulls us into second place behind New York, where we stay until the last round. Dallas needs a 29.4 to tie. It's not an easy score to get. Backstage we assure one another that we've won second place. Then Dallas sends off a raucous group piece about wanting to be a black...
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