MEL COOKE, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
WHEN THE stanzas settled, metaphors rested and the dust of delivery cleared, the final image of the Poetry Klash series was Ishion Hutchinson collecting the winner's cheque from Jamaica Biscuit Company's Deborah Collins.
The Calabash Writers Workshop participant and member of The Workshop at the University of the West Indies (UWI) won the $30,000 prize from a field of six, with two finalists failing to show at the Weekenz Bistro and Bar, Constant Spring Road, on Tuesday night.
The finals were the culmination of several weeks of competition, with judges selecting the finalists from a pool of entrants.
FACE-OFF
The night was not without its twists, as a surprise 'face-off' was sprung on the top two selected by judges Dingo and Tafari Heron, after the poets had done a five minute presentation. The idea was for the audience to get involved in the adjudication process, with the points from the 'face-off' to be added to the existing scores to determine the winner.
Hutchinson entered that surprise round with 52 points, three ahead of Gordon. Leslie-Ann Wanliss was a mere half-point behind Gordon, in third place.
The scores would effectively stay there, as after Hutchinson did On Your Mind, Gordon said he had not been informed of the final clash segment and "I acquiesce to my counterpart."
The other three contestants for the night were Patrick Davis, Rudolph Thomas and Black Velvet, with all the poets receiving gift baskets courtesy of the Jamaica Biscuit Company.
The competition brought out the best in attendance for a few weeks of Tuesday night poetry at Weekenz, but it also sent some out the gate in anger. There was significant cheering from those seated along the landing to the left of the venue (facing the stage) when Thomas was announced, the poet doing The Browning Syndrome, Lazy Daisy and Naughty Deeds, the last being a scathing look at sexual practices in the society, with Thomas saying "wha dat me a hear/conductor an' schoolgirl a play musical chair?"
It was from this section of the audience that there was some chatter and laughter during the initial stages of the following poet and the eventual winner's presentation, as he opened with Pen and Paper Revolution.
And this was the section from which there was a mass walk out, complete with a shout or two of 'fraud' and 'robbery', when the top two was announced, though some paused at the gate to see Hutchinson do his final poem.
And it was they who, apparently, Gordon addressed in his parting shot, after not offering a poem in the surprise 'face-off', when he quipped "ignorance is bliss, but only when you are on the inside."
"We will be having more competitions, more controversy," host Connie Bell said in putting the lid on the Poetry Klash and giving a look at the summer programme ahead.
It was not only a night of words, walk-outs and a winner; there was dancing as well, with two pieces choreographed by Shelley-Ann Maxwell, who danced in both. In the first she was partnered by Danielle Nembhard, the pair dancing to Rastaman Chant. Dressed in black pants, with red, green and gold above the waist, the two utilised their bodies, each other, the walkway to the stage and the lawn as they interpreted the song, arms raised to the sky on the line 'fly away home'.
For the second piece, Tiffany Martin and Patrice Levy made it a trio and the ladies went hip-hop, short skirts bouncing and smiles flashing.
Neto started off the open mic segment on a serious note, noting in his social observations "this friction of blasphemy with the divine." He continued on a humorous note with Even Though, in which he declared his passion for a certain lady.
