Last modified: Thursday, January 24, 2008 1:48 AM EST Totally slammin'! ATTLEBORO - I went to a poetry slam last Saturday fully intending to do a full fledged, properly written - with quotes and names - article on it. I was there for about five minutes when I decided to do an editorial instead. The first portion of the event, held at the Attleboro Arts Museum, was the teen competition. Teens from various parts of Attleboro, and even a few from out of town, took turns getting up and reading their original poems in an attempt to win $100 and the respect that goes along with it. It takes serious guts to get up and do that. Imagine reading a diary entry in front of a crowd of strangers; reading a poem is the same kind of thing. It is a highly personal piece of writing but it also shows off your skill with words. Everyone reading this ought to know what I'm talking about; there are some pretty horrible poems out there and how would you know whether or not yours is one of them? However, it must be said that I was amazed. I could not believe how talented some of those teens were, it was great to just sit and listen and let the words roll around in my mind. Five poets were selected to move to the next round by five judges in the audience who rated them on a scale of 1 to 10. The same judges rated the second set of poems and a winner was selected. Unfortunately it wasn't anyone from Attleboro. If I thought the high school kids were good, then the adults were astounding. The second portion of the slam was for anyone to participate, but it was mostly adults competing for the $200 prize. Not only were these poems exceptional examples of the English language at its most beautiful, they were memorized. Contrary to popular belief, a poetry slam is not a poetry reading. It is much more than that. Each piece is read with full emotion and passion, which it makes it a heck of a lot more interesting. However, these events are a chance for any and all poets to put their stuff out there and test their ability to manipulate an audience's emotions. It isn't just about the money and the respect; it's about relating to people and turning thoughts into art. The whole experience is ratherpoetic.