The Four Corners Tavern reported several injuries after participants misinterpreted a poetry slam hosted at the establishment. When competitor Zachary Winemouse began his performance of “Diary of a Tax Collector,” the audience was “extremely invested” in his first-person portrayal of the fictional antagonist. As he acted out accounts of fraud and extortion to his front-row listeners, Winemouse believed their pensive expressions were positive indications that they were engaging with the complex themes of hegemonic exploitation and the propagation of intergenerational trauma. His performance was interrupted at the climax of the poem, however, when one member lunged on stage and tackled Winemouse before yelling, “This is when you slam!”
“It was a metaphor?” Local milliner Florian Bay had followed his wife and kids to watch a poetry slam for the first time. “I don’t care! That Whine-mouse guy was talking all high and mighty about how he’d ripped off all those poor people. Someone had to fight the power for the voices who can’t represent themselves.”
“He’s so close,” Winemouse said in response. “I forgive him, I should’ve made a disclaimer that I’m a broke-ass bitch. But man, I guess controversial art needs controversial artists for these issues to get noticed at all.”
