We had Nikolai jumping in as a host again for our unparalleled open mic, which had the ironic highlight of the century as Dylan from the staff at Coffee & Cotton did an amazing poem “Closing Time,” about the necessity of getting out of work on time – and then we went overtime by a few minutes at the end. You could say it was an example of poetic irony – but only if you weren’t one of the baristas waiting to get the hell out of there.

The reason we went overtime was another hot slam of poets looking to qualify for the 2023 Mill City Speaks Poetry Slam Team. The slam was full, with eight poets in the first round: Chris Ashley, Sangeet Hayer, Mike Linehan, Deirdre McCarthy, Kris Rouille, Lauren Strainge, Peter Vann, and Zeus. As usual, the best poet didn’t win, but that’s because, in our opinion, the best poet pandered to the crowd and did “My Love Letter to the Untitled,” which we can’t help but love, despite the judges’ unrequited scores and a meaningless time penalty. Regardless, you are in luck because said poet (Peter Vann) agreed to let us post his piece here (see below).

While the rest of the poets were rewarded with candy, Deirdre McCarthy and Chris Ashley walked off with the cash, separated by only two-tenths of a point! We hope to see both again at our team finals in May.

My Love Letter To The Untitled

by Peter Vann

New shit!

Old shit!

And everything in between!

A whole new world it seems

Where the microphone's gleaming

The lights are buzzing

And the music is humming

Christened by a choir of voices

Singing unsung gospels

Setting stages ablaze

Unconventional and Uncompromising

It's Untitled!

It is Untitled to the world

The same way true love lacks labels

It is a book without a name on its cover

The story that doesn't get one until it’s The End

Untitled is a deep seeded root with Mill City grit

Born with crack streets and cobblestone teeth

Untitled is a melting pot of every cultural food

Made with love, dashed with Adobo and Fish Sauce

Untitled is an urban manifesto of dynamic identities

Generations of Beats, Millennial Rebels, Trailblazers

Untitled is both puppy and monster, black sheep grown GOAT

Whom underdogs live vicariously through what they wrote

Untitled is the villain of their own story

Turned anti-hero because of disasters and glories

Untitled is all the secrets confessed to an empty chair

Epic Lores. Eulogies. Tall tales as old as language.

Untitled is home no matter where we are

We hold each other accountable here. Word is bond

Where we slam in the spirit of competition, Don’t be nice

Cheering for each other because we only want the best

Where the best poets will not win tonight

But will be back with wildfire in the eyes

It’s not about the money, it’s about the moment

Where we have Interviews with Dead Poets

Their legacies surviving Five Fingers of Death

Their words reminding us poetry isn’t dead here

From FreeVerse! falling on stage with awkward swag

Crowds cheering Get Free Poet and Please Come Back

To rappers reciting rhythm and rhyme

Dropping dope shit intertwined with time

Untitled is authenticity, thinking critically

And above all else, community

Untitled is a coming of age growth

Metamorphosis of metaphors

Lasting symbolism of similes

Calculated consanants criss crossing

Emotions from ever evolving vowels

I’ve written more love poems than I can remember

Untitled taught me the most important one

Is the one you write for yourself

Recite my poems

Front of a mirror naked

Damn, I look handsome

Untitled is an unknown practitioner of Spoken Word

Untitled is an unbridled truth in front of the whole world

Untitled is a Brew'd Awakening with Coffee and Cotton

Untitled is an unapologetic poem made of random words

Untitled is the best new poem you have never heard

So, come one, come all, you're all invited

We are the Untitled

Event Recap and Photos from our Untitled Open Mic and Mill City Slam Team Qualifier | 11.02.22