Spoken Word Poetry Article

          What is poetry? Poetry can be defined in several different ways. Perhaps the only thing that comes to mind when the word poetry is thrown about is Shakespeare. But it is so much more than that. It is an expression of thought. It’s an opportunity for an ordinary person to speak their mind in a creative manner. Spoken word poetry is one of the most common types of poetry. There is no limit when it comes to performing or writing poems. It can be inspiring, depressing, humorous, or just down right dumb, yet it never fails to be superior.

 

            Shane Koyczan, a well-known spoken word poet, catches the world’s attention with his inspirational poem “To This Day” when he performs it on Ted Talks. Koyczan pulls on the heart strings of the audience when he tells the story of what it is like to be young, different, and insecure. As well as telling the story's of others, he also gives the audience a look at his past. He tells the crowd to “look a little closer, stare a little longer” until they find something they love about themselves. This poem is particularly inspirational although there are other types of poems are just as high-quality and well spoken as Koyczan’s.

 

            In the poem “The Impotence of Proofreading”, Taylor Mali uses intelligent humor to prove to each person that “proofreading your peppers in a matter of the utmost impotence.” He uses numerous clever examples of mistakes that can occur when we rely on spell-check to fix all of our mistakes. Though this poem can be difficult to take seriously, Mali does an excellent job at getting his thoughts across to everyone in the room and anyone that may choose to listen to it.

 

            “Pretty”, a poem by Katie Makkai, can also be considered as an inspirational poem. She takes the time to present to the audience that the word pretty is just a word. It is just a word that should not define a person. As well as saying that to the audience, she also says that when she has a daughter she will tell her that “the word pretty is not worthy of everything [she] will be, and no child of [hers] will be contained in five letters.” Makkai uses her unique perspective to prove that no one will ever be pretty, but instead they will be pretty amazing, or pretty intelligent, but never just pretty. Makkai, Mali, and Koyczan all rise to the expectations of all spoken word poets.