Top 8 Button Poetry Poems

Button poetry is a program that’s goal is to promote poetry throughout society in order for there to be a greater appreciation of poetry. This program uses videos and other forms of media to promote poetry and the poets that are a part of the organization. Their videos can be located on YouTube, or at https://buttonpoetry.com/

Poetry is a beautiful art form that can exhibit the vastness of the human spirit. The poems that the poets who are a part of button poetry write and perform are exceptionally powerful and emotive. These pieces can be inspirational, hopeful, eye-opening, saddening, hilarious or even a combination of all of the above. Of the poems that I have heard, I have listed the top eight poems that I found the most emotive.

1. “American Diss Track” by Joseph Capehart Joseph Capehart - "America Diss Track" (Button Live) This poem is one of the more amusing pieces. In it, Capehart angrily complains about America.
2. “Brown Boy, White Boy” by Jonathan Mendoza Jonathan Mendoza - "Brown Boy, White Boy" (NPS 2015)This poem details the struggles that the biracial author experiences due to his ethnicity.
3. “14 Lines from Love Letters or Suicide Notes” by Doc Luben Doc Luben - "14 Lines from Love Letters or Suicide Notes"This poem is shocking because it combines sadness and humor while discussing a serious topic. As a listener, one is unsure whether to laugh or cry, because from the side of a love letter, the poem is humorous but from the side of a suicide note, this poem is extremely sad.
4. “I Won’t Write Your Obituary” by Nora Cooper Nora Cooper - "I Won't Write Your Obituary" (CUPSI 2015)Another poem about suicide, in this poem, Cooper details her reasoning for refusing to write an obituary for a friend who asked her to do so if he/ she committed suicide. It is a saddening poem that fully details the care and compassion of author feels for her friend.
5. “Unsaid” by Amin Drew Law Amin Drew Law - "Unsaid" (Southern Fried) This poem is from the perspective of convict. It is an interesting poem because it details some of the issues in society from the perspective of a person who society likes to overlook.
6. “cuz he’s black” by Javon Johnson Javon Johnson - "cuz he's black" (NPS 2013)This poem discusses the fears that the author has for his nephew because of his ethnicity. Once again, this poem discusses some of the issues of modern day society.
7. “Lost Voices” by Darius Simpson and Scout Bostley Darius Simpson & Scout Bostley - "Lost Voices" (CUPSI 2015)In this poem, the authors describe some of the issues they must face due to their identities. Each poet described the other’s problems, which emphasized the theme of the poem.
8. “Explaining My Depression to My Mother” by Sabrina Benaim Sabrina Benaim - "Explaining My Depression to My Mother"The author of this poem describes how it feels like to have depression. This poem brilliantly displays the lack of understand of mental disorder in this nation and what it feels like to have a person discredit/ not understand what a person who is experiencing these form illness is going through.