Issue poetry?

I have to say the past few weeks have been thouroughly impressive and busy. Last night I went to the Toronto Poetry Slam. The slam had landed in the start of Toronto International Film festival, and traffic on the way to the slam was ridiculous. I was told the turnout was unusually low, although it seemedto me to be just fine. The usual crowd of offbeat poets gathered, the energy was lighthearted and fun, with a few newcomers thrown in to mix it up.

What I would like to see at slams is more of an emphasis on their own country’s politics and issues. Perhaps it is simply because of the proximity between Canada and the US that they feel so deeply affected by the same issues which plague american society, but I would like to hear about these issues from a Canadian perspective, rather than a “this is what’s wrong with the united states”perspective. Just a thought.

It’s slightly true what they say about poetry slams: that the best poets hardly win. Not that I don’t think the winner of tonight’s slam was talented. She was very talented, of course, but talented in a way typical of winning a poetry slam. Issue poetry always seems to gain the hearts of the judges, and for some reason, the more stereotypical the issue poetry, the better. My favorites? The scrawny emo poet writing about how that girl broke his heart, or the quasi-feminist poem that involves a female speaker claiming to be a queen. Perhaps I too, will write a queen poem. Maybe I’ll win a slam with it.