Yesterday's plan was to go to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe on the Lower East side to go watch a poetry slam. The Nuyorican Cafe has a lot of history behind it and i was really excited to go check it out because i've been reading some slam poetry over the past year. I'd waited until Babbs got here in New York to go so finally the planets aligned and we were on our way. Everyone ended up all meeting up and then finding out that the slam wasn't on until ten so we ate at a Moroccan place complete with hookahs. I miss smoking at Fumari's alot and just getting a few minutes with the hookah made me think back to San Diego.



Anyhow, afterwards we went to the slam and watched Good Sista/Bad Sista perform and then five poets slam through three rounds each. Most of the stuff was pretty good and a few pieces were amazing. Good Sister/Bad Sister had this piece about Pokemon (and how it ties into the imprisonment of African-Americans) that was intensely creative. This one poet, Anish (who ended up winning), dazzled the crowd with three pieces that were all entirely different and incredibl well written and delivered. His last piece, called something like "I'm a lesbian, buddhist, independent film-maker" was off the hook and was incredibly funny. After that, it was a little late but we stuck around for open mike night and got the chance to hear Babbs go up on stage to do his piece. Overall, the whole slam experience was incredibly tight and it was eye-opening to finally see a slam live.