Poets Gone Wild!

I recently attended the 2009 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, as a team alternate. After having some time to reflect on the experience and decompress, I am ready to write about it. I will not try to pretend that I can sum up a week of intense poetic energy in a few short paragraphs. It is something you really have to experience to understand... But here's my take on it, for what it is worth, in a few short paragraphs.

1. Coffee is not a good substitute for sleep. (Though it was the only way I retained some semblance of wakefulness in Victoria.) CFSW is a slam poetry competition. But the nightly bouts were only the beginning of the fun. Afterwards there was entertainment, ranging from an erotica show, to performances by C.R. Avery and The Fugitives. And each night, post show, we made our way back to the hotel for hours of poetry, and ninja-tag*. I walked around the city with a pleasant perma-buzz from all of the caffeine I ingested. But the lack of sleep left me borderline delirious by the end of the week. And I have to admit to falling asleep on the loo at one point.

*The object of the game is to tag out other "ninjas" by touching one of their hands... To begin, all opponents stand in a circle facing one another with a hand outstretched to the middle. The person randomly chosen to start the game shouts "Ninja!" and all players strike a ninja pose and remain motionless until it is their turn to make an offensive (look for a hand close by to slap) or defensive move (get your hands the hell away from someone who is too close for comfort. ie; sit on them, hide them in your crotch, etc.) If someone tries to reach your hand, you may move to avoid this, but then must freeze in whatever position you find yourself in. Play goes clockwise. Hilarity ensues. Oh, this part is important... No katanas allowed.

2. Victoria is home to the best Vintage shops, ever. Particularly Sideshow Circus. Funky fashions and fabulous owners. Check it out if you are ever in the area. I put together a hot "Carnivale" style outfit. (Picture a grey and black striped pencil skirt with a slit up the front, purple blouse, feather earrings, and skeleton-hand hair-clip. Add my black boots and striped arm warmers. Brilliant!) The fashion police are still looking for me. Yes, the shopping was stellar, but my one regret is that I was on the Island and didn't get to do anything outside, other than marathon morning walks. I would have loved to head up to Pacific Rim National Park. Long Beach... So beautiful...

3. As an alternate, I was not at the festival to compete (unless some dreadful "accident" or some such sabotage were to take out a team-mate) but acted as team support/management, and had a 20 minute poetry set one afternoon. Many of my pieces are very personal, and I'm an emotional lady to begin with, so I was glad to have such great friends on the team there to cheer me on. Also a shout out to Wonderful Winnipeg Greg, and Vivacious Vancouver Dave, for coming out to watch my set, and making me smile.

4. Poetry is, to me, akin to life. I am here to write, and to share my stories with whomever happens to be in a listening/reading mood. I went to the festival expecting an earthy, supportive, and (dare I say?) hippie-love-in atmosphere where it would all be about the poetry and not the points. And I did find this, but alongside it came much cattiness on the part of some participants. This serves as a reminder that the world is not always as happy a place as I would like it to be. But there's no running away from negativity. Just embrace the whole experience, and learn. It is a competition after all ;)

5. Ottawa's Team BRIIK (Brandon, Rusty, Ian, Ikenna, and Komi) were inspirational! Their insanely intense strategising, and gorgeous team pieces, blew their competition away. Finals night was literally the best poetry show I have ever seen. No one can dispute Ottawa's win. And with next year's CFSW taking place in the nation's capital, Ottawa has the chance to defend their title on home turf. I suggest that everyone book their tickets now to come out and see the buckets of poetic blood which shall be spilled!

6. Being amongst poetry legends left me inspired beyond belief. There were many nights that when I finally did go to sleep, I woke over and over again to write down rapid-fire lines of verse. They were streaming out of my half-conscious brain with such force that I couldn't bring myself to let any of them go to waste. So my advice to those suffering from writer's block is thus; Find some verbose genius', drink a lot of alcohol, forbid yourself to sleep (though prolonged eyelid blinking is to be expected as you've got to get your REM in at some point) and write down every bloody thing that pops into your brain. Something good will come of it.

So seriously, let's all jump on a plane, train, bicycle, or donkey, and head to Ottawa next year for CFSW 2010! (I am focusing on improving my stealth for more ninja-tag.)