I recently discovered Button Poetry and the wonder of 3 minute videos they have of people speaking/living their poems in front of others. I've learned a lot in the past day while watching these. They're called "poetry slams" where they shed light on past negative experiences and argue points that are often passionately emotional if not controversial.
From what I've seen, these break down into what I would call 6 basic categories:
-Funny
-Intense Truth (often about being raped, beaten, disowned...)
-Diseases, Illnesses, Disorders, and Dying
-Deeply Disturbing
-War/Society/God/Gay Rights
-Inspiring
The ones that seem to be the most popular on Youtube surround the topic of love, relationships, and overcoming a struggle. These poems are bold and honest with moments of humor and an ending of heart ache.
Some words should never be read only spoken. Reading, looking over the page, will not carry the message out an do the poem justice. Some things need to be listened to, not glanced at.
Personally my favorite stories have been the inspiring ones. The other ones leave you feeling broken at the end. Your heart is an anchor and your throat is weighted with the ocean. It's hard to swallow, hard to think of anything other than what you've just seen and heard. There's nowhere for your mind to rest. No shore.
But with inspiring stories after the pain comes the lesson. The message, the point, the hope, the thing you're going to end up carrying within yourself that's going to allow you to float above the rising tide.
To help me stay more organized -or rather to answer my instinctual call to organize things that are hard to find and make sense of, I'm going to order the titles of the poems I liked most into these categories so anyone who wants to can enter the title of the poem and its writer and look up the video on Youtube.
I will continue to add to this list as time goes on...
Funny
Neil Hilborn - "OCD" (Rustbelt 2013)
Neil Hilborn - The Future
Catalina Ferro performs "Anxiety Group"
T Miller - "Halloween Suggestions for Your Ex-Lover"
Bobby Crawford and Kieran Collier- "Legos (Unfinished Masterpieces)" (CUPSI 2013)
University of Connecticut - "Captain Stress Reliever and Companion Calm" (CUPSI 2013)
Rachel Rostad - "To JK Rowling, from Cho Chang" (CUPSI 2013 Finals)
Aaron Burstein - "Social Anxiety at 130 BPM" (CUPSI 2013)
Danez Smith - "A Sermon" (Rustbelt 2013)
Neil Hilborn - "Mating Habits of the North American Hipster"
Renee Schminkey - "For Nikii" (Rustbelt 2013)
Michael Mlekoday - "Prayer for the Destruction of Justin Bieber"
Aaron Samuels - "Special Delivery" (Rustbelt 2013)
Cristopher Gibson - "Jefferson"
Kait Rokowski - "New Insults" (WoWPS 2013)
Sam Cook - "Comic Books"
Cam Awkward Rich - "Love Poem for an Airport Security Guard"
Chace 'Mic Write' Morris - "F#%! John Mayer"
Lauren Zuniga - "Small Enough to Fit"
Button Poetry First Readings - Cris Gibson - Prince Charming
Button Poetry First Readings - Matt Mason - "Line Up For Lightning"
Button Poetry First Readings - Christopher Gibson - "Trailer Trash"
Button Poetry First Readings - Neil Hilborn - "How to Get Beat by the Cops"
Shane Hawley - "Atlantic City" (Cirque Du So'Drunk Slam)
Megan Falley - "Fat Girl"
Subcategory of Humor for Taylor Mali (since he has so many):
"I Could Be a Poet," by TAYLOR MALI
Taylor Mali:"An Open Letter to the Staff Copywriter of the F.A.A."
"The The Impotence of Proofreading," by TAYLOR MALI
Taylor Mali "Totally like whatever, you know"
Taylor Mali -"I'll Fight You For The Library"
TAYLOR MALI - "On Girls Lending Pens"
"Defending American Interests," by TAYLOR MALI
Diseases, Illnesses, Disorders, and Dying
Benjamin Barker - "Rubik's Cube"
Renee Schminkey, Abbie Shain, and Anna Binkovitz - "Caretakers" (CUPSI 2013)
Mega - "This Is How I Challenge Diabetes to a Fight" (CUPSI 2013)
Natalie E. Illum - "Don't Look at Me" (WOWPS 2013)
Eleanor Longden: The voices in my head
Rachel McKibbens - "Portsmouth, Ohio: A Dirge in Four Parts"
Intense Truth
Aziza Barnes - "Hypnophobia"
Natalie Illum - "Blueprint"
Maddy Schafer - "Aquaman" (CUPSI 2013)
Katherine George & Arielle John - "Prayers for the Daughter of an Ex-Rapist" (CUPSI 2013)
Lauren Bullock - "Love Notes" (CUPSI 2013)
Mega -"Mother"
Briana Zora Libby - "Trigger Warning" (CUPSI 2013)
Brandon Melendez - "Samson" (CUPSI 2013)
"Unsolicited Advice to Adolescent Girls with Crooked Teeth and Pink Hair" (by Jeanann Verlee)
Josh Smith - "Separation" (Rustbelt 2013)
Rob Gibsun - "Heirlooms (After Safia Elhillo)" (CUPSI 2013)
Carrie Rudzinski - "Delhi's Belly" (WoWPS 2013)
T Miller - "No More Oil" (WoWps 2013)
Denice Frohman - "Weapons" (WoWPS 2013)
"Entire Act of Sorrow" by Taylor Mali
"For The Life of Me" by TAYLOR MALI
"
Depression Too Is A Type Of Fire" by TAYLOR MALI
Suzi Q. Smith - "Black Hole Mouth" (WoWPS 2013)
Katelyn Lucas - "The Unraveling"
Kait Rokowski and Khary (6is9) Jackson - "Bojangles"
Button Poetry First Readings - Kait Rokowski - "Swelter"
Lauren Zuniga - "World's Tallest Hill"
Kait Rokowski - "How To Cure a Feminist"
Terisa Siagatonu - "Trigger" (NPS 2012)
Neil Hilborn & Renee Schminkey - "One Color" (NPS 2013)
War/Society/God/Gay Rights/Addictions
Rob Gibsun - "For All" (CUPSI 2013)
Dylan Garity -"Friend Zone"
Sam Cook - "God in Code"
J.G. - "Guilty as Trained"
Mike Rosen "When God Happens"
Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black"
Elliot Darrow - "God is Gay" (CUPSI 2013 Finals)
Lily Myers -"Shrinking Women"
Corey Ewing - "What I'll Say to Myself" (Rustbelt 2013)
Falu - "Christ" (WoWPS 2013)
Sierra DeMulder - "To Michelle Bachmann" (WoWPS 2013)
Carrie Rudzinski - "The Prayer" (WOWPS 2013)
Ken Arkind - "Tom Sawyer Goes to College"
Khary Jackson (6is9) - "Prop 8"
Mike Rosen - "Repair Shop"
Michael Lee - "The Addict, a Magician" (Rustbelt 2013)
Denice Frohman - "Dear Straight People" (WOWPS 2013)
Deeply Disturbing
Emi Mahmoud - "People Like Us" (CUPSI 2013)
Paul Tran - "Ice Cream Man" (CUPSI 2013)
Inspiring
Katie Makkai - "Pretty"
Rachel Wiley - "10 Honest Thoughts on Being Loved by a Skinny Boy"
Harlan Kelly - "Poem for Guys Who Spit After Smoking Cigarettes Between Slicing Pizzas" (CUPSI 2013)
Anny Miner - "Isis" (CUPSI 2013)
Zach Goldberg, Evan Okun and Lily Myers - "We Made It" (CUPSI 2013)
Tonya Ingram - "Unsolicited Advice (after Jeanann Verlee)" (CUPSI 2013 Finals)
Danez Smith - "Twerking as a Radical Form of Healing"
Laura Lamb Brown-Lavoie - "Ars Poetica" (WOWPS 2013)
Taylor Mali "Why Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog"
"
Miracle Worker" by Taylor Mali
Taylor Mali - "What Teachers Make"
Thuli Zuma - "One" (WOWPS 2013)
Lisa Evans and Katelyn Lucas - "Duet"
Button Poetry First Readings - Anna Binkovitz - "A Survivor's Guide to Saying Yes"
Jared Singer - "A Letter to Sarah" (NPS 2012)
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