The Worcester Slam Team is:

Trevor Byrne-Smith
Erin Jackson
Bill MacMillan
Gary Hoare

A great slam, great work, tight scores from the get go.

I placed 7th overall out of 8.

No excuses. I read well, did the work I wanted to do, and at least one of the poems was the best I’ve ever done it. I also did one piece I never slammed with, ever, at all.

Onward. Tomorrow night I’m reading in Syracuse, NY and then I’ve got other shows coming up in the near future. It’s not like who I am poetically is tied to the slam; it hasn’t been for years. I was a poet and a performer before slam existed, and I will be that forever.

But it does sting a bit tonight. So I’ll say so and let it go; and tomorrow is another day.

are tonight…

I’ve been so busy in the apartment (and I can now officially say I’m completely in here) that I’ve had no time to practice or indeed, prep effectively.

I’ve got new stuff, but am thinking I might go with some older stuff I don’t slam with in addition to adding in a new piece.

Then again, I want to make the team, so it might be a tried and true night. I think I proved myself adequately in the semis in terms of slamming with new stuff, so I might go with the legacy stuff instead.

I’ve burned “Punk,” “SoaP” and “Mission Statement” already, so those are off the table in terms of the oldest stuff…thank God.

We’ll see…

Good luck to everyone — bring it like it’s the last time we’ll ever do this.

I think I found the Holy Grail at a yard sale.

I bargained them down to 1.50 from 3.00 by agreeing to purchase the Ark Of The Covenant for 40.00, too.

I really need a refrigerator, though. Anyone want to trade? I will tell you that the Ark hums continuously, so if you need quiet, this one’s not for you.