May 17th, 2015 at 12:46am
I've never experienced slam poetry before, but I'm glad this was my first. The title caught me because of the capitalization. I'm unsure if slam poetry = emphasis on words but I like your style. I'd like to hear you say this, I feel like that would make my experience with even more amazing.
This was easy to relate to by the first sentence. Everyone is a critic, even of themselves, and I like the way you address this. The part that stood out to me the most was
I'll do it to change the pigment of my skin
so an eight-year old me doesn't get call
ZEBRA,
NIGGER,
or YIN YANG.
I just felt so angry. I love the emphasis, I feel like if I'd heard this out loud you'd have screamed this part. The way you included a seemingly personal event to others made it feel even more real, even more easy to relate to.
Overall, I'm left with a sense of calm yet it's not complete. I like the way you illustrated that we're judged for everything, we're labeled "try-hards" if we strive for perfection, yet called derogatory + racist names because we're not perfect. I'm left with a sense of fulfillment because of the way you illuminated the hypocrisy of it all.
Well, thank you. I'm really glad you got the theme of this poem and were able to decode it. This was my first slam poetry and it just came started to flow as I was typing it. I'm grateful that you like it and it was one of your firsts.