In the eyes of a poet, the tension of the question “who is first?” is undeniably painful.

Every year in April, we have an all-school poetry slam, which consists of anxiety, triumph and the constant personification of words. It’s run by the school librarian Nancy Sullivan. Students sign up on a form and are randomly selected to perform by a fish bowl drawing.

During this poetry slam, I wandered back and forth between photographer and participant. I saw performers’ similes, metaphors and rhymes through a camera lens.

An audience and judges sat in front of my eyes, while I ripped off my tongue through a mic. It was terrifying.

Being judged for your poetry really depends on what your poetry is about. You have a lot of poets talking about trauma, and it feels super weird that people are judging you for how well you perform it.

It gave me a deeper understanding of what they were trying to express. Specifically, to the phrasing of their words, I heard them through my ears as a fellow performer, but when I took photos of them, I felt and captured that emotion behind them. 

I highly recommend for people who don’t like poetry to understand what we are trying to portray: insecurities, pain, humor and livelihood.

Three winners emerged: Ren Danehy, Onyx McElroy and Princess Fletcher. First place winner Danehy and third place winner Fletcher then went on to a district-wide slam competition, known as Verselandia, held in the Arlene Schnitzer Hall downtown.

Thank you to Sullivan for making these slams a true highlight of my high school years, and stay poetic, McFamily.