13 Year Old Noah. Amazing, but Awkward Slam Poetry. Controversial? Yes.

This post is about a 13 year old boy named Noah; I can't find his last name. Please, if you read this ensure that you visit the link to a video of Noah performing, which is posted below.

I'm only twenty-five years-old so I am by no means very old and conservative in my thinking...yet. Nonetheless, watching this video put me off slightly. When Noah gets into his swearing rants and sexual references or metaphors, I watch the video with the feeling that this young kid should not be swearing or saying any of the things he says, even if his poetry is good, and it is. However, the audience is obviously not predisposed to these social anxieties that I bear. When Noah says F*ck or talks about spraying "jizz" at people and on things the audience roars with applaud, why? I do not know; at first the I think the applaud is mostly out of surprise. When the audience notices that their reaction only helps him energize his performance the begin to clap and shout with excitement at each cuss word or sexual verse.

When Noah eventually gets to the end of his performance, his poem takes a slightly offensive twist; its not offensive to me, I just find it uncomfortable to see such content coming from a young boy's mouth in a public setting. I do know however, that my grandmother would be highly offended. The Grandparent is always good for referencing, contrasting and judging the changes in society within the period of a human's lifespan.

To conclude, the most intriguing part of this video, for me, is how the audience receives and reacts to Noah's performance. Are these the manners and values that we want to encourage in society's youth...an ability to shock and encroach on our well adjusted social sensitivities? Why would we as adults react so vehemently well to usually unaccepted actions for such a young person? Instead I would feel better if the audience merely kept silent until the very end at which point they offered a solid applause for the craftsmanship of Noah's poetry, but did not encourage the superfluous swearing etc. Let me know what you think....

Without further ado, the link: Noah's video

Some Prose.

I found the following quote on the wonderful blog Spoken Word Paris . As soon as I started reading the quote I knew I would like it.  I like every and any poem that tries to conjure an intensity of life or a thirst to live a certain way, and this is one such poem. Tis Excellent.

''The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn likefabulous Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.'' -- Jack Kerouac

It speaks of a type of personality who never gets bored with life and attempts to live beyond an everyday routine. In living in such a way this personality becomes so different from the rest that merely being herself, this personality lights-up in comparison to others...this personality  burns, burns, burns.

Amazing Spoken Word: Sarah Kay

I have watched TED.com for a number of years; so, I was delighted when I found out that there was a spoken word segment. The poet, Sarah Kay, has excellent delivery and her poetry is very deep and meaningful. I have searched and found some of her other works and she has many quality poems, some very serious regarding hatred such as Hand Me Downs, but also some poems that are very light and amusing such as A Love Letter--a love letter from a toothbrush to a bicycle tire, its quite cute.

Kay's poetry seems to be well composed and carefully thought out...possibly more traditional than some of the other modern spoken word poets. She manages to conjure amazing verses e.g. "...because there's nothing more beautiful, than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it is sent away." This is just one of the many wonderful verses Kay has written.

Anis Mojgani- Shake the Dust and Rock Out

Even before you watch the compilation below, watch the incredible video of Anis Mojgani performing three fantastic poems: Direct Orders, Here I am, and Shake The Dust. These are what I consider his best performances; he is raw, full of feeling, conviction and emotion--its very inspiring and moving. You can find the verses of Shake the Dust at Poetry Grrrl's blog: Poetry Grrrl

This is a great compilation of Anis' works, put together by LittleKingMusic on youtube. Skip the first 20 seconds...

"These hands, these hands are huge. On a good day, I catch bullets like they were Frisbees"

ANIS COMPILATION

Found Love: Slam Poetry

I have listened to slam poetry for about three years now. I go on slam poetry benders watching hours and hours for an evening, then I get caught back up in the things that day-to-day life seems to so easily catch you up in. But, a few months later I always go on another slam poetry mission; I scrounge the internet for new poets with new material, with new performances that move me in the same way that Taylor Mali or Eric Darby did and do.

When I find a new poet that truly moves me I can watch and re-watch the video over and over and over, each time squeezing out another ounce of feeling from their amazing delivery and arrangement of words. Slam poetry can make one feel less alone, more alive, more solemn, less upset and can give one a lump in their throat or tears to their eyes, mostly it can bring another layer of meaning to one's life depending on their mindset while they listen. Not many things in life are able to move me the same way slam poetry does and this is why I have decided to make this blog. It will highlight good poets and talk about their poems and performances, sometimes accompanied by an intellectual type analysis or sometimes just a comment on how incredibly amazing the artists and their poems are...