The Painter (hitalot879)

The following slam poem was submitted by a poet who goes by the name "hitalot879", hailing from Connecticut. This poem is provided as a written poetry piece with beautiful natural imagery. Leave a comment to move this slam poem up in the rankings. Our poetry comment system is intended to facilitate feedback for our artists, and to promote creative communication. Don't just read he poetry -- take the leap by, submitting, commenting, and following.    --Slam Poems Editor 

The Painter

I saw the artist paint with brush,

The setting sun, the lengthening shade

The near and further distant hills,

The valley where the lily shows its blade

And hides the nest of the noble thrush

He painted the valleys with their streams,

The giant oak and the stately pine

The quaking aspen leaves afloat

The evening breeze of summertime

And he left me standing lost in dreams

He mixed his colors in varied hue

As clouds suspended from the sky

From swaying limbs where the robin sings

And the eagles nest in mountains high

Beneath a sky of azure blue

It's here the artist stops and stands

Spellbound, he cannot overcome the spell

The sun, now set, has changed the scene

With different colors in the dell

He cannot match the master's hand

EDITOR'S PICK: Shake the Dust (Anis Mojgani)

The Mission of Slam Poems is 1.) to showcase great slam poetry, and 2.) to create awesome conversations. 

For these purposes, I frequently post examples of  the best slam poetry performances that I have come across. This is a means of inspiring the slampoems.com community.

This slam poem model of excellence is called “Shake the Dust” by Anis Mojgani. I was inspired by the ferocious hopefulness, and the precision of delivery in this piece. I also appreciated how he crosses lines by delivering a message of hope to people on opposing sides of the equation: the bullies and the bullied, etc.

The site thrives on engagement from the slam poetry community.

We’d love to hear your comments on this one. What can be learned from this poet?

--Slam Poems Team

 
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Hardships of Life (Callum Finlay)

The following slam poem was submitted by a poet named Callum Finlay. This poem is provided as a written poetry piece, and is a painful, bit ultimately hopeful look at life challenges.  Leave a comment to move this poem up in the rankings. Our poetry comment system is intended to facilitate feedback for our artists, and to promote creative communication. Don't just read poetry -- take the leap by submitting, commenting, and following.  

--Slam Poems Editor

Hardships of Life

He comes home early to a pile of bills,

Working 60 hours a week there's no time for thrills,

Man of the house he's got to provide,

Food on the table for his family to survive,

He's just a blue collar guy,

Trying to get by,

Dark Thoughts and Great Movies (Mr. Brightside)

The following slam poem was submitted by a poet who goes by the name "Mr. Brightside." This poem is provided as a written poetry piece, and is a powerful, vulnerable, questioning piece that leverages dark humor for effect.  Leave a comment to move this poem up in the rankings. Our poetry comment system is intended to facilitate feedback for our artists, and to promote creative communication. Don't just read poetry -- take the leap by submitting, commenting, and following.  

--Slam Poems Editor

Dark Thoughts and Great Movies

They say most girls dream of being a princess and want to be rescued by the prince. What about the boys? I for one wanted to be the prince, find my true love and live happily ever after. Isn’t that what most of us want. I did not know the story ends with the princess sleeping with all 7 dwarfs the Ogre and even the donkey too. Why can’t we be like penguins or seahorses or better yet a Werewolf? Damn you Morpheus and your red pill. (yes, I just referenced Snow White, Shrek, National Geographic, Twilight and Matrix, that’s how messed up my head is).

Find Your Giants

If you want to grow as a poet, stand on the shoulders of giants. I know you have heard this phrase before, but stop and take a moment to think about it. 

The greatest poetry movements in history have happened when great poets became FAR greater through associating with, and being sharpened by, OTHER POETS.  You can look at the Modernists, the Romantics, and even modern day poetry movements to see this principle in effect. 

As poets, I think we are innately independent. Creation is such a personal process. It takes a lot of humility and work to seek out people that are greater than you in your craft. Most won't do this, and will thus be limited to the confines of how far they can grow in themselves. Not saying  you can't grow without major influences -- but you will be limited. 

A wise man once told me that he seeks to find the rooms where he can be "the dumbest guy in the room." In other words, his strategy to become great is to associate himself with greatness, and learn from greatness. This is a key to exponential growth. 

Find heroes. Find people who are ahead of you in your craft. Find people whose art you respect (maybe poets, visual artists, playwrights, whatever), and make contact.  This principle doesn't only work for poetry -- it works for business, faith, and any category in which you are pursuing growth.  Find your giants, and make contact. 

You heard me!  Make contact. Shoot an email or a Tweet to someone who you think would never respond to you. Instead of telling them all about yourself and what you're doing, ask them penetrating questions that invite them to share their wisdom with you. For every 50 attempts you make, you might get one response. 

But that one response could be a life changer. 

Come on, you're a poet! You're bold, and passionate, and persistent. I know it's scary. 

I know because I am in the process of doing this right now. It's scary. But I have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. 

Find your giants, and grow!  I would love to hear your comments if this impacts you.  Even more, I would also love to hear about your results if you put this into practice. 

--Johnny Levy, Slam Poems Editor