I think slam poetry is fascinating. Actually, I find anybody reciting poetry fascinating- provided it's done. There's this one scene in Dead Poets Society when the boys are in their little cave and Charlie- I think it's Charlie- breaks into a rap, reciting some poem whose name I forgot. That excited me a lot. And then I read a poem by Jeanann Verlee on tumblr. It's called Unsolicited Advice to Adolescent Girls with Crooked Teeth and Pink Hair and I read it again and again because it's that... touching. Great. I don't really have words for it. And then I found the video above of Verlee reciting the poem! The poem was amazing enough; I didn't know it could be even more amazing. The trick is to read the poem and then go and watch the video and watch the video again and again and then watch some more videos, like this one. Just read the poem beforehand because that always works for me and I tend to relate to the poem much better. And read Unsolicited Advice because it's phenomenal.
Sarah Kay is another poet who I absolutely adore. She's a goddess. She really is. And if you want to convince yourself, please go watch her TED talk because well, there are no words. I had tears in my eyes but that's just me because I cry for everything. You don't even need to read her poems or anything before watching it. It's a long video but so so so worth it.
Also, if we're on the subject of videos that made me cry, watch this one of Kerri Strug from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. I had an Eyewitness Readers book about famous Olympians who underwent more than just a race- it was them competing with themselves and other inspirational/motivational stuff- when I was younger (I still read it all the time in the bathroom) and Kerri Strug was one of the Olympians featured. A gymnast who injured her ankle during her exercises, she went on to wind gold for the US team and just watch the video and you realize how incredibly difficult it must have been for her.
Ah-ma-zing.
No comments:
Post a Comment