Spoken Word Poetry that Spoke to Me

Not too long ago, I had went to a poetry/comedy slam hosted by the Spoken Writers Guild in the campus center. One of the performances was a spoken word poet. Whenever I hear or read someone's poetry I try my best to give their work a chance before I begin to cast judgment. Yet, it did not take very long before I began to formulate my opinion about this gentleman's performance. Emphasis on the performance. I feel that he did indeed focus entirely too much on his delivery and his body movement, and not enough on his lyric and content. I feel that if enough time and thought goes into making spoken word poetry, it can be very poetic and held to the same credentials as any other form of poetry. In my opinion, the fact that there must be a label placed on these "spoken word poets" rubs me the wrong way. Why can't they simply be poets? Oveous Maximus, a "spoken word poet" most certainly deserves the title of poet. His content goes far above and beyond his "performance". His words dance and make movements in my brain that out perform some of the contemporary poets in my opinion. Verse is verse, and if it's free why must we place a label on it? To say that these "spoken word poets" are a lesser form of poetry does not sit well with me. If anything, they should be commended for their efforts because they speak to a younger generation and groups of people who otherwise would not have been interested in poetry until they heard what these people have to say. Realistically, many of them have a lot to say period. Adding emphasis to delivery, tone of voice, rhythm, and doing something different does not kill their words. Had no one else gave different styles of poetry a chance we'd all still write like Shakespeare, and not everyone can do that. The same way that not everyone can write spoken word that actually speaks. Xenophobia should be a crime. If you are interested in seeing some of his work I posted a link below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2vqZMGDcZw&feature=related