Slam poets use the power of words

The PUB lounge became the scene of a slam poetry exposition March 8 with three well-known poets putting on a free show at 7 p.m.

Rapper, actor and poet IN-Q, along with the Dynamic Duo of Ken Arkind and Panama Soweto, took the stage and captured the audience with a set of jokes, poems and even beat boxing.

Slam poetry was created in Chicago but moved to Dublin, Ireland in the 1980s. The first national event was held in 1990 in San Francisco, and the style has been growing in popularity ever since.

Currently, the National Poetry Slam has grown to a competition involving 80 different teams of poets and lasts more than five days. Slam poets aren’t as judged on their content as they are on their delivery.

National Poetry Slam champion IN-Q, aka Adam Paul or Adam Schmalholz, kicked off the night with his flowing brand of poetry. Covering subjects from hip-hop to virginity, IN-Q enthralled the crowd with his stage presence and deep proses.

“Hip-hop has really become a parody of itself lately,” IN-Q said. “It’s like professional wrestling; now the only thing missing is the spandex.”

After IN-Q preformed, the Dynamic Duo presented their brand of off-the-wall wit and stylish prose humor. Kicking things off with a poem about video games, Arkind and Sowelo were in it for the nerds.

“We really don’t think about the power of words anymore,” Sowelo said. “Saying something like ‘Hello’ can mean life or death to some people.”

The duo also broke up to do individual poems, giving Sowelo time to recite a love poem to every woman in the room. He also spoke on topics such as war, poverty and oppression.

The other half of the duo appeared in the bearded form of Arkind, a Denver-based slam poet. His topics seemed all over the place, from slams about orange unicorns farting dust devils and bad-mouthing redwood trees to a love poem about Los Angeles.

“It’s a city I fell in love with but would never take home to mom,” Arkind said.

The group also came together for their infamous “Haiku Jamboree,” which was haikus separated by beat boxing. The haikus included subjects like Old Ladies crossing the street in Washington, D.C., parts 1-3, religious irony, and girls with mustaches.

Eagle Entertainment and Northwest Boulevard hosted the event. More information about IN-Q can be found at in-q.com. The Dynamic Duo can be found on MySpace at myspace.com/thedynamicduokenarkindandpanamasoweto.