Hey guys! I wrote this piece intending to read it at a slam poetry competition next Monday! I’ve never written or performed a slam poem, and am actually pretty new to the world of poetry, so if any of you more experienced poets out there could give me some feedback or advice about any part of this, or about performing, I would sure welcome it! As always, I hope you enjoy.

Emotional Control

Sometimes I felt violent.

Hot electricity sparking through my veins

Encouraging me to hit something.

But I can’t,

Because people will be scared of me.

And grown men control their emotions.

 

Sometimes I felt sad.

Hot tears pricking behind my eyelids

Encouraging me to let it all out.

But I can’t,

Because people will call me weak.

And grown men control their emotions.

 

Sometimes I felt friend-love.

Warm softness spreading from my chest

Encouraging me to gush and hold someone.

But I can’t,

Because people will call me gay.

And grown men control their emotions.

 

Now I don’t feel much of anything,

My feelings swirling around in their prison,

Separate from their labels,

And trying to pin them down to examine them

Is like counting sand grains in Sahara.

And that’s not okay,

Because grown men control their emotions.

 

But how am I supposed to control my emotions,

When society shows me men without any, save anger?

At least I’m not black so my fury meets no jury, I’m not a crime,

And no one assumes that I’m violent.

 

How am I supposed to  control my emotions,

When “I love you” met with “I don’t know” is the wrong three words,

And I can’t get help finding the label

Because she expects me to already have it.

At least I’m not gay, where “I love you” meets with “I don’t care”

And it’s only chalked up to gay culture.

 

Men need feminism, because feminism includes meninism,

And it’s okay for men to feel feelings.

If my mind is mucked up, it’s cause society fucked up,

And my world’s not the only one broken.

 

I’ve never written a slam,

But this is for that

And I hope what I wrote

Lands like a tat and

Sticks in your mind

Cause it takes all of your kinds

To change society’s rules and regulations.