Poetry can be used to exhibit any emotion, anger, fear, you name it and it shall be revealed. But, spoken word poetry is performance art. Instead of just reading a poem and trying to decide what is supposed to be more enunciated than something else the author tells in their performance
1. "If I Got Paid For All My Emotional Labor"
Melissa's list of how she would spend all the money she would have earned if paid for her emotional labor starts off extravagant. As it goes on some of the ideas are a little logical and sincere when it comes to her family and her wellbeing.
2. "Ode To My Bitch Face"
Part of her phase of writing odes to things she thinks she should be ashamed of, the author speaks of why her "bitch face" doesn't matter and why it doesn't concern anyone who's face it is not.
3."When Love Arrives"
Phil and Sarah narrate everyone's first thoughts about love. From childhood ideas of what we think it is to the adulthood idea of what we think it is. Neither are correct, and their narration proves that love comes and goes exactly when they are supposed to and not a second before.
4. "Complainers"
Rudy begins with examples of unique stories of times when after going through great trauma, the person in the example stated, "it could have been worse." This is to prove that tragedy is usually silent, you don't hear it. This will make you think before you complain next time.
5."Repetition"
Words can hold all of the meaning in the world and yet, if used too often, they can lose all the meaning in the world. Phil's lesson is to appreciate your words and make them mean something.
6. "When God Happens"
Telling his story of being a child in New York City when the planes hit the towers, Mike, pushes that to everyone in the city it was real and to anybody else it was just a distant occurrence that was fake.
7. "Somewhere In America"
Performed by three speakers, this poem screams the truths of the privileged versus underprivileged, whether it be by class, race, or gender.
8. "Chameleon"
Starting with a storytelling of show and tell from grade school and ending with an apology to every woman he'd ever been with, Rudy explains that he, like chameleons, would use his invisibleness to hide.
9. "An Origin Story"
During this performance, Sarah and Phil tell the funny coincidences that are the foundation of their friendship, from identical nationalities to attending the same summer camp as kids, their origins are where the story started and their friendship shows that they will write their own ending.
10. "Bitches"
The author uses this poem to praise the women in her family. It doesn't seem like it, but to me she is praising the strength of those around her who are what others would refer to as "bitches."
11. "Ode to the Women on Long Island"
This poem gives me goosebumps. Speaking of the tough, opinionated titular women of Long Island, who fight through life and love their families and stand for what is right.
The unique thing about poetry is that even when the words say one thing you, as an individual, could hear something completely different from the person sitting next to you. That's what makes it amazing, the diverse meanings that everyone could get from the same piece of art.
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