Being A Poet Unloced…
In 2018, I went through a really bad breakup. Afterwards I had to rebuild my life in a lot of ways. I had to reestablish myself, my relationships, my self-esteem, I even had to rebuild my credit. It was a lot for me. In the midst of all this I decided to write down what I was going through, and somehow it transformed into a poem. After writing it I decided that for my birthday, I would perform it on an open mic. Then I decided that I would perform it in another open mic, and then another one. I received such positive feedback on my poem that I thought to myself, “maybe I should write another poem.” And I did. I started volunteering with poetry organizations and found one that felt like a family to me in Dallas Poetry Slam. 2019 was filled with growth and poems for me. Everything that I felt, everything that I was going through I wrote it down. Some of it became amazing poems, and some became just diary entries, but it was all therapy for me. Even though I was writing poems and performing them at open mics, I would never say out loud that I was a poet. It was always just “I write stuff sometimes.” I never felt worthy enough to use the term “poet.”
But this weekend was a huge milestone for me and for my poetry. This weekend I competed in something called the Women of The World Poetry Slam. It is a festival where nearly 100 women came to the city of Dallas, Texas and competed in a huge poetry slam competition. The scores are calculated and each poet was ranked. Afterwards, the top 14 poets are selected to go to the final stage and compete for the number 1 spot. I didn’t make it to the final stage but I was ranked number 47 overall, and for someone who has only been doing poetry for 1 ½ years, that ain’t half bad!
Despite the rankings and the competition aspect of it, Women of The World Poetry Slam or WOWPS was truly a humbling experience for me. The poems that I witnessed broke my heart, brought me to tears and lifted me to new heights. I have never been in a space with so much love and light, never been surrounded by so many people that truly want you to succeed, for no reason other than because you are you. I have never had so many people hug me and tell me that they were proud of me. Strangers, telling me that they related to my poems or that they liked my writing. I have never felt so beautiful, so heard, or so SEEN in all of my life.
Women, who have been writing for years, told me that I am a great writer. Women were supporting each other and not trying to tear each other down. Black women were running things! We were all loving on each other and pushing each other to go further. There was no cattiness, no gossiping, and no hate. This weekend has sparked so much inspiration and love in my heart. I am truly a different person, and a different woman after this experience. This weekend has given me hope, strength and the courage to finally say that I am a poet now. I am so grateful! Blessings.
