Damien

Llego a esta tierra,
Seca, amarga,
Cubierta con espera.
Espera, mi lengua no prospera.
Mi lengua no es entera.
Deja, que fluya por la tierra.
Dulce, la sangre de mis venas.
Llego a esta tierra,
Con esperanzas de lograr alguna meta.
Sin esperar que la tierra me encarcela,
Seca, amarga.
Quisiera sacar toda la hierba.
Romperla con manos sin espera.
Llego a esta tierra,
Sin darme cuenta que
Vista pura y amarga me encarcela.
Paredes blancas, concretas que rodean.
Cielos blancos, palidos, duros,
Figuras largas, secas que no dejan.
Quisiera romper toda la hierba
Con manos que escurran rojo.
Deja que fluya po la tierra.
Quisiera regar toda la tierra
Con rojo de mis venas,
Con rojo de mis manos
De arrancar toda la hierba.
Que fluya la sangre de mis venas.
Que corra por la tierra.
Que sangre hasta la mesa.
Que coman de la mesa.
Que coman de las hierbas
Las lenguas que no dejan,
Las lenguas que babean.
Las lenguas que jadean.
Llegamoa a esta tierra
Sin saber que nos espera.
Deja que fluya por la tierra.

Sergio Méndez Aguirre passed to the next world on Sunday. He was an Albuquerque High School Poetry Slam Team Alum, State Poetry Slam Champion, and kind soul. Our community is deeply saddened by this loss and offer our prayers and support to Sergio’s family. Click here if you would like to make a donation to help during this tragic time.

Friday night, Albuquerque Poetry Slam squared off against Denver Mercury, DADA, Slamageddon, and Dallas Poetry Slams in the 4th semifinal bout of the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, California.

Denver would advance to the finals, with DADA, Slamageddon, and ABQ Slams within a point of first place.

The next night, UNM and former youth prodigy, Matthew Brown, took honors for the best-written poem, “José.” Matthew performed the first poem of the Championship round before a sold out crowed at the Scottish Rite Center and received a standing ovation.

The final round had The House Slam of Boston, in first place; Hawaii Slam in 2nd; Berkeley Poetry Slam in 3rd; and Denver Mercury in 4th.

Albuquerque Poetry Slam would finish an unofficial 16th place overall.

In unrelated-but-related-to-poetry news: Protestors shut down Interstate and fight the cops with burning furniture, crazy hotel manager screams at crazy non-poet guest for hours, fistfight breaks out at the NPS after-party, and a 4.0 Earthquake hits the Bay only an hour after the Albuquerque Poetry Slam Team narrowly escapes California in one piece.

It was a craaaazy ride, folks.

It’s been surreal.

Oakland, Ca: The Metro Opera House sounds like a classy venue, and it is classy. . . in a punk rock sort of way. The room looked like a fight club and pitted 3 of the top 10 teams in a brutal slam full of wack judges, incredible poetry, heightened emotions, and extreme sweaty heat. When the smoke cleared, the scores went down like this:

1st) New York City, Nuyorican Poet’s Café 107.4
2nd) Austin Poetry Slam 107.3
3rd) Albuquerque Poetry Slam 107.2
4th) Suffern Slam 91.3

A heartbreaking finish, but it was enough to get Albuquerque into the National Poetry Slam Semi-Finals tonight. Currently ranked 20th in the country, ABQ Slams goes up against our sister city, Denver Mercury, Dallas Poetry Slam, DADA Slam out of Delray Beach, and Slamageddon from Baltimore.

You can watch the live scoring updates online at scores.poetryslam.com

After hard-fought slam at Shadow Lounge in Oakland California, ABQ Slams takes first place in the first preliminary against Seattle, Slam Free or Die, and Olympia.

Albuquerque is ranked 6th overall and 1st place in group piece rankings.

The team goes up against Austin, TX; Suffern, NY; and Nuyorican NY,NY on Thursday night.

You can follow the National Poetry Slam live scores at scores.poetryslam.com

And check out the photos at fresh.gourmetbookdesign.com