Welcome to My Life

I step on the stage
To show what I got
I’ve been watching my competitors all night.
It’s close to midnight
When I finally get on the stage.
I feel at home
With a mic in my hand
The cord round my foot
The paper on the stand.
The scent of coffee circles my head like flies
And makes me dizzy.
I introduce myself
“I’m Cheryl”
And someone begins to clap.
I can’t see who,
I’m blinded by the super trooper
Can’t see
Can’t breathe
Can’t feel the beat of the words
That fall to my feet when I finish.
I stand tall.
You may call what I do rap
Or hip-hop
But I call it poetry.
And this is a slam.
People come from all over the county to compete
With their goal the money.
What they don’t understand is
That you shouldn’t slam for money
You should slam because you want to.
You should slam because otherwise
You have no reason to live
No reason to see
No reason to breathe
No reason to feel the beat of the words
That fall to the floor when you finish with them.
If you slam with money your only goal
You will fail
Because you don’t give your soul
To the people in the café.
The people pay homage as I step off the stage

Like I’m some form of Isaiah,
Offering me coffee and cheers
And wishes of luck.
I refuse them all
Replying that I slam
To define myself.
Not for money or coffee
Or a café full of cheers
I do it so I can go on living
Go on seeing
Go on breathing
Go on feeling the beat of the words
As they fall to the floor when I finish.
Breathing it all in because
This is my reason to life.