Poetry that Speaks

I love poetry in general, but one particular kind of poetry that has captured my attention is spoken word. Unlike simply reading words on a page, listening to spoken word is an auditory and often visual experience of hearing the poet speak their own words and act along with them.

One of the best things about spoken word is that with the internet, we have a whole index of it ready for the listening! I've definitely spent some late nights on Youtube just moving from one poem to the next. In my opinion, the best spoken word poets have the ability to evoke an emotional response from their listeners. I love when a poem can bring me to tears or give me goosebumps.

The first spoken word poem I ever listened to was "A Finger, Two Dots Then Me" by Derrick Brown. Talk about goosebumps! If you've got eight minutes to spare, it's been made into this lovely "short film" and I think it's definitely worth the watch.

Another of my favorite spoken word poets is Sarah Kay, and "Hand Me Downs" is a personal favorite of mine.