TheBanyanTree: third place

[dseaman77 at gmail.com]

I won third place in the poetry division at my community college this year. I took first in the creative writing division. Which means a lot also, but not as much as the third place. I feel like I am a poet lately. Or more like, I can call myself a poet now. I’m strange that way in that I know that I was a poet before the competition but for some reason it’s now official.

I went before the mic and spit my shit at the poetry read downtown. I had a performance piece but there were children in the audience. It was early still when my name was called, so I switched up to something with a dark purpose and no sexual innuendo. It was short and gloomy but still got applause. I love reading to a crowd and never expect the applause.  It always comes as a welcome shock and surprise. It’s the unexpected icing on a cake. It is more validating than an A in English class. 

Dave Seaman