Last night might have been the last Wednesday that the Cantab year-rounders had to ourselves (welcome back, students! there are empty seats in the front), and we surely made the most of it: poets from the last decade of slam at the show, including much-missed host April Ranger, turned out to see 2019 Boston Poetry Slam Team member Zeke Russell lay down a multi-themed poetic storyline with his three-book/thirty-minute set. Zeke took the venue on a rugged and tender set, wading through rivers, stacking firewood for the winter, and bringing us all to northern Maine one step at a time.
Our slam was a compendium of regulars who must! have! heard! that we are qualifying for the 2020 team tryouts this August: the final round came down to Yehya Barakat and Cali Stenson, the very worst and most huggiest mortal enemies we’ve ever seen, in the one-minute round. Cali took the big win and the ten bucks, but both qualify for callbacks for the team.
Next week: it’s our final slam for at least a month, since September will be an all-early-bird month with four scheduled workshops! We’ve got one more team member to close out August, though, and it’s all-star rookie, mermaid, and Irresponsible Bird Arianna Monet. This is gonna be a hot one, folks, so plan to come early if you are hoping for a seat or a spot on the open mic.
Boston Poetry Slam Online