Haiku Slam

Leigh and Amy invited me out to a haiku poetry slam at Lydia’s on Sunday night. I had never been to a poetry slam but I loved watching people go on stage to bare their writing for Lydia’s to see. It took them a while to get enough poets, 16 in total including Amy who had pulled together 12 haikus last minute to fill the spaces. Two poets would go up to read against each other and the audience voted for the white or red contestant using small coloured plastic plates. The winner of two out of three haikus killed the loser and moved on to the next round.

The space itself wasn’t more feminine or masculine, but lent to the pub crowd and had the familiarity of the generic pub – The Fox and the Hedgehog, O’Hanlons, with a good selection on tap and a decent order of nachos. The relaxed atmosphere allowed free movement of any gender and sexuality, though I am sure if on of Divas Drag Queens came walking through in full outfit she would draw a few stares. The space allows free movement of men and women within the societal standards of gender, but restricts full freedom of expression in comparison to a gay bar.

This was a fantastic opportunity for entertainment in a very inclusive way. While some people may not be interested in seeking out a Haiku Slam, the show could have entertained even people who have no clue what a haiku is and would be welcome entertainment for someone looking for a beer. It was a stereotypical literary crowd with open attitudes and everyone was looking for a good time.

A lot of the haikus consisted of humour or sexual content and played to the social body in the space. People won by popular opinion and humour always won over wit or seriousness. There was heterosexual and homosexual content and was greeting with similar cheers of interest from the crowd and a pretty even gendered mix of the contestants gave an even representation of feminine and masculine subjects, though most conformed to the masculine feminine binary. One beautifully androgynous contestant read a couple of good rounds before being ceremoniously skewered with the haiku sword.