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Hip-Hop Author Freestyles In Haiku

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Coming up, we'll find out about the new reality TV show, "Ball Boys." It's set in a sports memorabilia shop north of Baltimore, operated by a motley crew that includes a father and son and three guys named Robbie. Go figure. I'll try to keep it straight when I talk with them about their plans to score big with viewers. That's in just a few minutes.

But first, the latest in our series, Muses and Metaphor.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: We've been celebrating National Poetry Month by hearing your poetic tweets. We've been asking you to send us poems that are 140 characters or less, and today we hear a tweet from Scott Heath.

Scott is a writer, editor and professor of English. His forthcoming book is called "Head Theory: Hip-Hop Discourse and Black-Based Culture." Scott resides here in Washington, D.C. and he recorded this tweet with his iPhone.

Now, remember, these are short, only 140 characters each. Here's a tweet by Scott Heath.

SCOTT HEATH: Behold, the shiny blacks, electric Africans in just come fashion.

MARTIN: And we know that went by pretty fast, so let's hear it again.

HEATH: Behold, the shiny blacks, electric Africans in just come fashion.

MARTIN: That's a poetic tweet submitted by Scott Heath. And if you'd like to help us celebrate National Poetry Month, tweet us your original poetry using fewer than 140 characters, of course. If your poem is chosen, we will help you record it for us and we will air it in the program this month.

Tweet us using the hash tag #TMMPoetry. You can learn more at the TELL ME MORE website. Go to NPR.org and click on the Programs menu and find TELL ME MORE. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.