REBIRTHED AND ALIVE AGAIN
Poety can be defined as: a genre of literature to express feelings and ideas. Now to put this into perspective, Slam poetry is the same thing, yet one million times louder. To have a crowd cheering along to poetry, and excited about the use of language is an amazing phenomenon. Today, there are thousands of amazing slam poets across the world, many preforming with their friends in basements, in coffee houses, and even in competitions. Every new person is a different perspective and has a different way to mould words. It is an art form. The performance can be as spectacular as the poem itself, and in many ways Neil Hilborn, Jared Singer, and Scout are iconic examples of this creativity.
Neil Hilborn has many great poems written but specifically his poem "The Future", displays a wide variety of techniques, repetition, analogies and contrast. He is very humorous; and his performance is is very emotional, which really pulls the listener in as he continues to illustrate his plot. Hilborn goes off about how he is depressed and wants to "kill [himself]" but he can see into the future and finally has a revelation that he shouldn't commit suicide because he's alive in the future. The poem is very impactful as he uses repetition to display a rapid fire array of points that invoke a reaction. He uses many comparisons to relate other topics referencing that "the future looks like a child in a cape," full of ambition and things to do. Finally Hilborn is very contradictory, he goes from talking about the ups versus the downs and poses a question on if he should kill himself. His response to this is an astounding no because there "is so much [stuff] to do still" and ends the poem on a resoundingly positive note. His lyric poem shows his idea that suicide should not be the answer even when there seems like no hope, and leaves the listener eyes open and thinking about their perspective of life. If you are interested I highly suggest listening to any of the poems yourself and hearing your opinion on them (see contact information at the bottom of the page).
In his poem “A Letter to Sarah”, Jared
Singer depicts his reaction to his friend Sarah committing suicide in
an extremely emotional way. His theme is the fact that although you
may not hear it, everyone around you cares more than thought
possible. The actions he explains are gruesome yet poetic. His
imagery is astounding, perhaps beyond the level of comfort as he
describes a suicide jump and how the impact “turns bone to dust and
blood splatters across your face.” The way Jared yells and shouts
contrasts with his otherwise quiet voice and demeanour. Other than
the tremendous display of both anger and sadness across the stage,
the poem itself is quite the lyrical genius. My favourite part of the
poem was when he exclaimed “if I could read other people's minds, I
would not invade your privacy. Instead I would eavesdrop every
passer-by, tattoo my arms with every nice thing they wanted to say.”
Nearly breaking down on stage, but keeping enough composure to
finish, it really is a heart wrenching product. He dramatizes his
actions and goes off on rants that the crowd cheer and clap for. It
is a great example of excellent slam poetry and well worth the
listen.
Not all slam poetry is sad, or heart wrenching, or deals with suicide. On the contrary “To My Future Children”, by Scout, is a heartwarming and funny poem. She writes to the children she might have in the future and gives them her advice on life experiences. She jumps back and forth between very serious subjects and not so serious topics, such as “don't be afraid to be poor” and “don't ever utter the phrase 'yolo' in my house.” As she is still a young adult, at 21, she gives very insightful advice and is clearly ready to be a caring mother. This is less about the imagery, and the projection is on a different level than the other two poems, yet it still shows the emotional investment these artists put into slam poetry. She really wants to drive home the fact that her daughter/son can do whatever they want, and that they should live life and not be bogged down by the usual anchoring factors. This is such an upbeat, exhilarating poem that I would certainly suggest listening/watching this to brighten the mood after watching the other two more depressing ones.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xUEg2WxGqQ
Neil Hilborn - "The Future"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwNiYFlHmWs
Jared Singer - "A Letter to Sarah"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9qXCn5zs8Y
Scout - "To My Future Children"
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