July 16th, 2006, exactly 10 years ago today, was the first time I stepped up to a microphone and performed one of my poems in public.
The show was Dusty Owl, put on by Steve and Cathy Zytveld as always, held at Swizzle’s.
By this point I had been to a few CapSlams and this was (I think) the second Dusty Owl I had been to. I had been writing since January and I knew that this was something I wanted to do.
I can’t recall which poem I performed but I guarantee it was pretty terrible. I didn’t REALLY get my footing until I wrote Why Art?, which was after I made the 2007 CapSlam team.
10 years. Most of it slamming. I stopped that about a year ago. I had a chance to slam again soon, but I realized that I am not ready… physically or emotionally. There is a reason I stepped down at CapSlam and I think anyone reading this knows what that reason is. Now I am tired.
I was going to go to the CPC SummerSlam tonight, in honour of this anniversary, and drop a poem – an early one… because I thought it would be fun. But I can’t. I am too tired and kind of sick.
Three more rounds of chemo.
So, this is a thanks to Steve and Cathy for Dusty Owl. This is a thanks to Danielle for accepting to me as a volunteer at CapSlam a couple of months later. This is a thanks to everyone who made the poetry community feel like home.
Wednesday is Sawdust. I guess a 10 year and 4 day anniversary can still count, hey?
Rusty the Poet 