SPOKEN WORD POETRY

I thought I'd found it all with storytelling and songwriting, but there's a new dimension and activity to add to my creative journey - "Spoken Word Poetry" - or "Performance Poetry".

You can easily see how I'm a late developer - these things have been around for a long time but I'm only just discovering them - it's like I just beamed down from another planet, or walked down from the mountain where I've been holed up for the last 20 years, or that I've just woken from a coma...

I don't mind - I'm discovering these things now and they're filling me with such joy as only a kid knows with the endless discovery of the wonder of the world around him.

Spoken-word-poetry is like a cross between stories and songs, between telling and singing - it's dynamic, theatrical, emotional.... and still, surprisingly (or not) very popular as an oral tradition, far more present in these modern times than storytelling. I've already found some favorites: RIVES; TAYLOR MALI; SARAH KAY; PAPERGIRL...and all these on Sarah Kay's "PLAYLIST" but there are thousands still to discover, and there is me to discover myself as a poet, and maybe that's the most important thing.

I feel I've been given a gift - a gift of voice. If you want to solve the world's problems - get everybody telling stories and writing and performing poetry - give everyone their VOICE. If you want to inspire children to believe in the beauty of life and learning - stop trying to teach them, stop trying to fool them that it's all about grades and exams and competition and certificates and being the best and knowing this and that so you can prove that you've learned it so you can get a good job and a house and a car and maybe a pension if you work hard enough long enough without dying first, without ever tasting the real essence of life..give them their voice by inspiring them to tell stories and write and tell poetry.

If you want to live in a world where everyone knows and understands and respects everyone else - give everyone the experience of finding their voice and sharing it with the rest of us. We talk but don't talk... we hear but don't listen... we look but don't see...  

It's been around for ever, but I have a feeling that "spoken word poetry" and "storytelling" could be the new revolution.