Not everyone is good at understanding symbolism, and you have a lot of symbolism in your poem. But he should be more supportive. It’s a very good poem, no matter what he says. Some people just don’t know how to read poems.
I write poetry but, strangely enough, i have trouble understanding poetry. When i read other people’s stuff i often struggle to understand what they’re getting at. I don’t know why that is.
Sometimes i struggle with yours, like anybody else’s stuff. It’s not that your stuff isn’t good, it just might be over my head. I think you’re more educated and more experienced than i am. As far as spoken word, i have heard some stuff that i like but am not super familiar with it. I really like the idea of the slam, though. It always makes me think of the Beat poets reading their stuff while Kerouac passed around the wine jugs!