Good Man

A contemporary slam poet, Angelo Geter’s work is marked by typical features of performance poetry as well as thematic elements common in the contemporary poetry sphere. A few key features of “Good Man” stand out in this sense: the poem’s length and rhythmic qualities, the use of 20th- and 21st-century references, and the use of personal experience as the substance for the poem’s content.

Though published in print in 2018, Geter originally conceived and performed “Good Man” as a spoken word performance. The spoken word, or slam poetry, genre is markedly different than printed poetry; it’s performative aspect necessitates different rhetorical choices than poems that utilize the printed page to carry across meaning. As an accomplished slam poet, Geter uses several common devices in “Good Man” to engage his audience and build narrative tension in the poem. In particular, Geter formats his poem in a length typical of spoken word, so that the performance version lasts about three minutes. Written out, the poem is seven stanzas that are nearly equal in length, though they don’t have a discernible structure in the way that many published poems of equivalent lengths might have.

In fact, Geter’s use of rhyme and rhythm in “Good Man” are specifically characteristic of a slam poem rather than a printed one. Geter frequently uses consonance and alliteration to make a set of lines feel cohesive for a listener; in addition, Geter often includes internal rhymes or slant rhymes to connect different ideas. For example, in the third stanza, the set apart slant rhyme of “teeth” and “read” helps tie the stanza together. Further, Geter intentionally uncouples rhyme and rhythm for his most pronounced statements, so that when performed out loud, these are distinct from the rest of the poem. These choices, among others, help distinguish Geter’s poem as a spoken word piece and make it a powerful piece when performed.