"I'm tired of poets who talk like this, I'm tired of poets doing poems for pussy." Shihan
Poetry is an oral tradition, so why do we all shudder at the thought of Poetry Readings? The performance and dynamism of a poem is what gives it life, so to remind us of how poetry should, and can, be performed, have a look at these links. These are Performance Poems, some more so than others, and I consider them important in contemporary poetics. They are all from HBO's series Def Poetry Jam -here are some stand outs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e2UR_MFUR8 - Saul Williams - Coded Language
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn-f8PgLVjU - MutaBaruka - Dis Poem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ydutKWEoA&playnext=1&list=PL9B5FA78437CFF24D&index=44 - Gemineye - Poetic Bloodlines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFhFaRKVpTY&feature=related - Poetri - Dating Myself
Others worth checking out: J. Ivy, Lauren Hill, Alicia Keys, Shihan, Anthony Morales, Mark Gonzales
Hey man, thanks for putting those links up. I enjoyed watching them. Have you also seen Benjamin Zephaniah?
ReplyDeleteHe does some really good work going into primary schools teaching kids poetry in his own exciting way. There should be more like him.
Hello there, glad you enjoyed the links. Yes, I have seen Benjamin do a few of his poems, he's one of the few that tries to instill enthusiasm into children at school, you are right, there should be more like him.
ReplyDelete'Surrealist'? maybe . . . in any case, all my books
ReplyDeleteof poetry can be downloaded FREE at:
http://www.lulu.com/browse/search.php?fListingClass=0&fSearch=Bill+Knott
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