Poetry in its earliest form was exclusively spoken word. The purpose of rhyme and meter and all those other neat elements we associate with poems were created to make it easier to memorize important things. Prior to writing, the laws of a particular tribe were passed down from generation to generation through spoken word poems. Two of the most famous poems of all time, the Iliad and the Odyssey, most likely existed in spoken word form long before they were committed to writing. Despite this immutable fact, today’s spoken word poetry movement is looked upon with derision by many in the “academic” poetry world. Such things as the Def Poetry Jam are dismissed by many “real poets” as a low brow form of poetry.  This is really unfortunate because the spoken word movement has reached a significant portion of the population that would have otherwise not been reached, and has produced many fine poems that would have never made it as strictly “written word” poems.