 Well, Slam Poetry involves an artist delivering their message right to their audience, allowing them to create an experience based on the feedback they receive. But this week's In Focus, Mel Myer talked to a few of the Slam's participants about their craft. The Headwater School of Music and Arts has held some slams in the past, but they've been able to host more through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. With it, they've been able to support and build the arts community and to create this sort of environment where people have a chance to explore their creativity. And slams are the perfect place to do that. Regular poetry is like orchestra, and slam poetry is kind of like a one-two punch. Competitors receive points from judges based on a few components. Five points for originality and the weight of the poem itself, and other five points for performance. So even if your message is great, but you forget parts of it or go over time, your score could suffer. I got the squeak that I had to finish up in ten seconds, and I had more material. While some like Anderson have a little bit of experience with the pressure, others were trying it out for the first time. Where can I fit in? I need a place for my dreams to begin. After putting his poem together for some time, Angelo Bell was ready to get up on stage. It was actually a pretty cool feeling seeing everybody who actually is paying attention and listening to my poetry here. It's this feedback that sets slam apart and helps the artist react to the audience's interests. I thought segregation ended, but we're still more divided than ever. Ashley Charwood performed a poem based on the movie, I Am Not Your Negro. I just wrote this poem because the movie really touched me and really spoke to me, and so I just let it all out. Because she performed that, others followed suit. People were doing some political stuff, and I really wanted to add to that. But slams can also be a little silly. The other two are kind of serious, so the third one, I'm going to try to lighten it up a little bit. If they didn't get to advance on to the next round, the poets will have another opportunity with the headwater school later this fall. With this week's In Focus in Bemidji, I'm Mel Myer, Lakeland News. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.