We've all heard about and, probably, read a haiku in our lives. However, though I had a tremendous love of poetry, I had never really put much stock into it. That's not because I looked down on it or anything of the sort, but because I was not skilled enough to write one that was meaningful (if we're honest with ourselves, we can all be close-minded about something sometimes). Despite my lack of interest in the art form, though, the fact remained the same that I knew about them and had read them. What I didn't know about, though, and what I'd never experienced, was haiku spoken word poetry.

This year (2016), I competed at the Southern Fried National Poetry Competition in Greensboro, North Carolina for the first time. Though I didn't make it to the final stage, I was proud to have lost to some of the best poets I've been exposed to thus far (and I've met a lot of poets). On the final stage, there was a segment that I'd never heard about: The haiku spoken word poetry Finals. To be honest, I was a little concerned that I'd be bored, because I'm my own ignorance I imagined short, possibly meaningless blurbs of poetically-formed information; I was pleasantly surprised. These great men and women showed me exactly how talented one must be to write meaningful, clever haikus. The skill that they portrayed in their rhetoric, condensed down to 3 lines, was impressive. I strongly suggest that you check out the 3 rounds of the Finals that I've posted, and let me know in the comments below what you think. Do you agree with the outcomes? Who was your favorite?