Let's get this over with

OK. Went out in round one.

The poetry slam wasn't all bad news though. My poems for round one were reasonably well received by the audience, I didn't come last in my heat (second of three), I did as well as some of the winners in other heats, the organiser told me she thought I'd been good and that I should do some more slams.

I still went out in round one though.

Apart from that it was a fine evening. In a small room, a packed audience watched fifteen performers compete and there was enough of a range of poetry to suit every taste. Mostly, though not exclusively, the successful acts were the ones who did it in a loud, gesticulating, almost ranting, style or as a kind of character comedy performance rather than simply as a piece of poetry. The winner, for example, did three pieces all involving props and costumes: one as a toilet cleaner, one as a football fan and one as barman. Another poet performed as a yobbish teenage girl and another as ranting work-shy layabout.

I tried to put some expression into my performance but did it as me. I'm a poet not an actor. I didn't agree with all the voting but it's a very subjective matter and I can honestly say that there weren't any performances that I didn't enjoy. My personal preference is generally for the quieter, subtler performances which seems to be less well received generally.

Which of course may account for why I went out in round one.