There were nerves, laughter and snaps of approval, as 20 young poets took the stage for the 28th annual BronxWrites poetry slam finals sponsored by DreamYard at the Bronx Music Hall last week.
Hosted by Ellen Hagan, head of the poetry and theater departments at DreamYard, the elementary school students went up first, 10 in total, and all from P.S. 46.
Saraliz Martinez wowed the crowd with her booming voice and in-your-face presence as she recited her poem, “The Place Inside My Peace.” She touched on cultural pride, as many other poets did, and elicited loud cheers from the crowd when she praised a standard dish of rice and beans, which Martinez said was her favorite food.
She mentioned feeling some negativity from classmates in the semi-finals, but with encouragement from her friends, she dusted off the haters and performed with power. She was seen in the crowd twinkling her fingers towards the stage. Students in the sidelines were doing the same.
“It’s a way to send good vibes,” Martinez said.
Some poets got on stage and forgot their words, but took a beat and made sure to work through it to the end. Some even had a swell of tears in their eyes as they stood in front of the mic, but as soon as they spoke, their confidence soared.
A brief intermission separated the elementary students from the middle school as Roberto Bautista and Vereny Canela hosted with exuberant personalities and a comedic rapport. As Canela prepared to recite a poem of her own, her phone started to blare, “Mommy’s calling.” She picked up the call on stage and told her mother she’d call her back because she was in the middle of presenting.
A moment of comic relief in the midst of hard-hitting poetry.
Each section began with “sacrificial goats” — poets who are not competing, but work to break the ice for the audience and performers. There were three in total, including Noah Lara, 13, from P.S./M.S. 95. His candid and tell-all poem recounted the harrowing truth of a traumatic event he experienced a few short months ago.
“I still can’t talk to him/ but for a different reason/ they believe that he did it/ it could be true/ but I refuse to believe it/ that a young person like him/ could do such a thing,” read parts of his poem. While Lara didn’t dive into specifics, the periphery of his story was enough to incite a disquiet in the crowd that could be heard through sympathetic grunts and the sucking of teeth.
“It allowed me to get a lot of anger out of the situation,” Lara said. “Write poetry. Do what you love.”
When the middle-schoolers took the stage, the content veered towards issues of social oppression and the presence of ICE in what used to be a long-standing sanctuary city.
Layla Finnegan, 13, from P.S./M.S. 315 made poignant observations with her poem, “The Pledge of Allegiance.”
“I pledge allegiance/ to a flag/ the promise I first made/ but didn’t understand/ it taught me the words/ before it taught me the truth/ it taught me to respect it/ before it taught me who it forgets.” The poem goes on to highlight torn-apart families and young girls who learn silence before protection. She touches on slavery in America and on being brave enough to question authority.
“She’s always been outspoken. She always liked to stand up for what’s right and stand up for her community,” said Finnegan’s mother, Rohani Abdallah, who was brimming with joy at her daughter’s fearless performance.
The two DreamYard teaching artists, Andrée Greene and Daemond Arrindell, also recited poems of their own. Arrindell was part of Rashid Johnson’s performance series at the Guggenheim Museum last summer. A panel of five judges deliberated over the win and in addition to their rubric, they were also judging on how honest the poems were; if they truly resonated with the voice of the poet.
“So many heartfelt moments, particularly from like the young boys of color,” Nicco Diaz said, one of the five judges and a teaching artist with DreamYard and served as the chief of staff at the famous Nuyorican Poets Cafe. “In today’s climate, it’s so hard to be vulnerable as a man and so for them to be talking about really deep issues and to go on stage, it was remarkable to see.”
In the end, Porfiria Fernandez’ fifth-grade class at P.S. 46 won for the elementary students and Nick Merchant’s eighth-grade class from P.S./M.S. 95 won for the middle-schoolers.
As some of the performers appeared noticeably deflated, Arrindell could be heard shouting to the students, “The point is not the points, the point is the poetry.”
The individual poetry slam competition will be hosted at Lehman College in May as part of DreamYard’s DreamFest.
“They’re still poets after the competition,” Arrindell added.
Reach ET Rodriguez at etrodriguez317@gmail.com. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
