Farrago Freshers’ Slam, 12/9/14

A nice article on Farrago Poetry night in London

Lunar Poetry

Farrago Freshers Slam, 12^th September, 2014, 7.30pm, The Poetry Café, Covent Garden, £6/5

Reviewed by David Turner [Originally published in LP3, October 2014]

Crumbs!! It weren’t ‘alf ‘ot! Audience members were crammed into the Poetry Café’s familiar hot-box of a basement, full to bursting. As always the latest Farrago slam, the country’s (Europe’s? The Universe’s?) longest running, was hosted by John Paul O’Neill.

Peering over perspiring shoulders of paying punters (£6 if you don’t mind. Great it was too to see so many happy to pay to watch a poetry reading) I just about managed to catch a glimpse KayoBalogun’s set. Via the wonder of modern technology I watched one of her poems on the screen of a smart phone as a friend filmed her set. Kayo gave us three poems in her debut feature set. While it took the duration of her first poem to…

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Bleed

Feed me with a cancerous love as soft as an overripe mango
let my spirit shit gold.
Then snatch away the chain of your tumour
let my heart bleed to heal.

video

Going Back

A brother    an incredible being       mine is the best of them all Ayodeji  – the second of three
From him I gather my strength
From him I learnt to be me

I would lay my childish behind on a wooden stool and trade words with him
With him I learnt the sweetness of words
With him I grew my tongue

My brother he laughed when he saw     my left feet dancing in a broken sandal with my right feet stamping the hot soil    Hair bedding bits of grasses from the tumble in the field     lips spilling red droplets of pain     Eyes shining with pride  I had come like my combat mate to get reinforcement    My brother he laughed when he saw my tongue rolling out words    he saw what I was blind to see

“Girl go back, beat her and her sister and then come back to tell me how you did it” I was 7 a child sent like an errant knight by her king Today I am a woman sent on many trips beyond my power and I have gone back a thousand times in these combats  with life    His words caressing my aching muscles    I tilt the bottom of mountains and shove my tiny nails in goliaths’ eyes

Today I celebrate the brother whose words brought me to grace this world    Today I celebrate
my brother the one with the golden heart laced with business plans and ideas
crafted in stars Today, I say “oh boy”  ait I glad you are my brother
I don’t think you would have worked well
as a sister.

Here is the audio