On Saturday, April 23rd, over 200 gathered in North Miami for a spoken word competition, where fifteen contestants slammed it out performance poetry style for a $500.00 dollar prize. Popular local poet Rebecca "Butterfly" Vaughns hosted the event, which was held at the cozy private residence known as "The Nest". On a curiously cool Miami night, the incense and R & B jams in the air made the conscious mellow vibe at the nest even more inviting. Making my way along a stone candle lit path, I found the casual crowd seated below the broad alluring canopy of a pine strewn with giant Asian style linen lanterns swaying in the breeze. Taking in the enormous lot, I sat down and began writing by the light of a Tiki torch, observing the wood fence painted with murals depicting the pyramids of Giza and the ancient life symbol of the Ankh. The graffiti message professed uplifting words of peace, love, unity and respect, which fit in perfectly with the serene environment. After settling in for a half hour, the evening began with an inspiring spiritual piece by an impressively boisterous little girl who stated that she was only 11 years old. Then Rebecca "Butterfly" Vaughns explained the rules and a judging system that was very similar to figure skating scoring, using a 1-10 point scale with the highest and lowest scores dropped and the remaining accumulated into an average. *Note to reader - The rest of the contest coverage is a Howard Cosell play by play account compiled by myself and Hugo "Free Baller" Guzman.1st Round Highlights: H.B.O. Def poetry champ Will "Da Real One" began with a very conscious piece, reflecting street knowledge on our modern state. Alonzo - the comical renegade � Performed a political piece, throwing in a nice little pun about T.V. (Tell � Lies � Vision) Ren� L. Moss � Gave an amazing metaphorical narrative comparing crabs and young black men, to comment on the present state.Diane Perez � Broke out with a powerful political piece that included Malcolm-X and the women's Lib movement. Nashi � Did a reminiscing piece entitled "Prisoner's Letter", which had a serious regretful and repentant feel, but ended very comically. Sonya � Performed an excellent Imagery filled story poem that chalked her strength up to Grandma's wisdom. Rachael � Came on stage and entertained a strong piece about her sentiments and feeling as a young black woman.Darrell Payne � Performed an empowering piece titled "I Make Noise", and that he did, as the only contestant to leave the 1st round with a perfect score. Miss Angie Blaque � Young exquisite performance poet took the crowd with a profound self awareness piece. *Intermission Performance � Marvelous African Dance and Percussion piece*2nd Round Highlights � Ren� L. Moss � "Just How Deep Can You Get", a question posed both philosophically and sexually.Will "Da Real One" � performed a piece that reflected on being a poet with precision tempo and a commanding stage presence. Alonzo � "Poem for Ugly Girls & Guys" - A hysterical and realistic commentary on vanity and the extreme measures taken to maintain it while aging, good strong last line about being judgmental. Sonya � Performed a hard direct and at times raunchy piece that commented on the fakeness of performance poetry & women's sexuality. Darrell Payne � Performed a strong vibrant anti establishment piece,shouting with fist in the air "Darrell Boombaya"*** The third round was to be the final round, but two of the contestants tied, thus sending the competition into a one minute sudden death winner take all freestyle heavy weight brawl, between Will "Da Real One" and Darrell Pain. Sonya and Alonzo also participated in the 3rd round, but were narrowly edged out on the scorecards. ***One Minute Sudden Death Free-Style Recap � Will came out first swinging with a fury and blew the crowd away with a dominating performance about his skills "not even the barber shop could fade�"Darrell was next and countered with a stiff hook about women's oppressive state, but it wasn't enough. When the judges went to the score card, Will Da Real One came out triumphant. Overall, the contestant's performances were incredible, the atmosphere the nest provided was perfect, and every one had fun. Background info on the Nest - On its last leg, the event at the Nest last weekend has been revived through the efforts of Rebecca "Butterfly" Vaughns, who not only hosted the event, but also sponsored, arranged, and promoted it as well. As part of the revival, the future of the nest has been solidified with monthly featured events through August. The events will take place on the last Saturday of each month. May will feature "Bring your flow right", a rap competition presenting 10 local artists battling for a prize. Sharing their endeavors and struggles, June's very positive event "A Fresh Start" features recovered artists from several rehab centers. In August, a local version of American Idol will offer 1000.00 dollars worth of prizes to a showcase of competitors in the categories of poetry, rap, singing, and stand up comedy. Chosen to close the 2005 Pan African Book Fest on Wednesday April 27, the "2003" Spoken word artist of the year, Rebecca "Butterfly" Vaughns will be performing an impromptu piece titled "Culmination of many works", a tribute to this years guest speaker Nikki Giovanni. Open to the public, the event will begin at 6p.m at the African American research library located at 2650 Sistrunk Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale. For more info, call 954-357-7348. Also, look out for Rebecca "Butterfly" Vaughns at the Def poetry jam web site, she will be the featured artist for the month of May.