Autograph Penis: An Adventure in Competitive Performance Art

My Team Goes to the Airport

Poets aren't wealthy. Our cheap flight is at the thong of dawn. I wake up earlier than I meant to, which is good, because apparently in the a.m. fives it takes me 20 minutes to brush my teeth. My three teammates and I text each other—we're awake, yes, we're all going to get to the airport probably on time.

There's a taxi ride in the cool blue darkness of I-shouldn't-be-up-yet. Bag gets checked. There's a line at security, what's up with that? I text my poets, At security, there's a line. Rookie, our rookie, is in line too. I see her a few rows down. She's so pretty, her long straight brown hair flowing almost all the way to where her long young legs begin the flowing all over again, waiting her turn. She's 20. I have stretch marks older than she is. I'm reflecting on youth, how I should have pressed my fingers on my face every day just to enjoy the feeling of my flesh bouncing back, when I get her text: I see you. You look beautiful. Wow I sound creepy.

One very good reason to be involved in slam is the compliments. Another is the acceptance and even the embracing of awkwardness.

We walk together to our gate and sit down across from it. Rookie's friends have all been getting married and having babies—there are a lot of young moms in our town. Rookie asks me, Should I be thinking about getting married? I feel like I should be thinking about it. I tell her, Dude, you can wait 20 years to get married, have a baby, and pick up a spare no problem. She seems relieved. Unfortunately, I can't say anything else.

Did I mention that I have laryngitis? I haven't had a voice for six days. Our first performance is tomorrow night. It's a problem. It's a concern.

Our teammates, T-Bozz and K-Rawk, show up right before boarding. They are roommates. It's T-Bozz's fourth National Poetry Slam, and K-Rawk's third. I'm boarding before the rest of them, because I am old in the ways of the airlines and I checked in last night. While I'm waiting in position B36, I look over to those girls. T-Bozz's red hair is in an adorable single braid. K-Rawk has long dark hair, and has just shaved the side of her head to a quarter inch, which gives an overall effect of gorgeous/badass. Why am I talking about hair so much? Because we are going to the National Poetry Slam to compete against 71 teams from across the country, and even our hair has a message.

I think, I'm with those pretty girls. That's who I'm with!

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* The Boise Airport is hella cute!

Larry D. Moore [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons