The two finalists of the 2015 Poetry Slam are sophomore Alex Kendrick and senior Spencer Dang, they will be competing against one another in the Prom assembly Apr. 17. The days leading up to the Poetry Slam, Kendrick and Dang spent in the bathroom.

“I actually laminated a poem so it wouldn’t get wet, because I wanted to practice it in the shower,” Kendrick said.

This may seem odd, but Dang also practices in his bathroom.

“I’m just a guy who writes poetry in his bathroom,” Dang said. “I feel some people have this weird perception of me like I meditate, I absorb creativity from the air, but I just write how I am feeling, speak it out and then perform on stage.”

Both Finalists were in last year’s slam as well. Kendrick’s poem explained students should not blame their frustrations on teachers but the American Education System.

“I guess I just really like to put myself out there,” Kendrick said. “I enjoy saying what I have written because I feel like if no one heard it, then it wouldn’t mean anything.”

Dang’s poem was centered on the idea that hate is a strong word, and we should not be criticised for saying it. His poem was inspired by a mom punishing her daughter for using the word “hate” and to instead replace it with “strongly dislike.”

“I don’t think hate necessarily has to be towards a person,” Dang said. “If you hate feeling sad or you hate being lonely or you hate something and you feel really strongly about it, it doesn’t always have to be so negative.”

Both poets express their emotions clearly in their writing and in their actions on stage.

“I think the best performances are when the audience and the performer are having a conversation in terms of the energy, they are giving and feeding off of one another,” Dang said.

Dang and Kendrick will prepare a poem for the upcoming Prom assembly, and just like the spirit stick, the crowd will choose this year’s “slampian.”