I find it difficult for me to put my ideas and emotions into the typical forms of poetry. About two years ago, I came across an evangelist online and fell in love with his faith-based Spoken Word poem videos. The passion that can be embedded into them is astonishing. I've been able to find release and relief from writing Spoken Words. Your thoughts on their structure, limitations, etc.? Just looking for opinions, thanks.
There are many, many forms of poetry. If you have it in you to write poetry, my guess is you haven't really explored the different forms of poetry. Or, of course, you can just forget form, but don't be so quick to form bash. Form can be your friend. I don't think spoken word poetry is an actual form. A good poet can deliver his work and captivate an audience. I believe poetry in general is meant to be read aloud.
I think this is good advice. I can't be certain, of course, but I'd bet a limb no successful poet has ever got where they did by shunning all other forms but the one which interests/inspires them. Your own poetry may never be influenced by the masters, but if it's clear you know your craft you'll gain far more respect. Of course this assumes you want to make something of your poetry, if only a tiny dent in the market. If it's purely recreation / therapeutic, then forget all the above and scribble away. I'm sorry to have avoided your question, by the way, but rather hypocritically I know nothing about the form of which you speak.
I love spoken word poetry. This is true classic creativity and probably the first method that stories were passed on for millennia. Yes, throughout history particular written poetry from particular poets got to be well known for their form and that's all the schools study. But true creativity comes from the heart and soul and most of the time is never written down.
I would guess poetry hasn't been something you've studied because many universities do offer such courses and host poetry slams and everything. There's no need to put down higher education. A lot can be learned, And I wouldn't say most creative things that should be are written down. What a shame and loss if that wasn't true. And we are writers here. Spoken word is an outlet. But I do think brilliant poets have a way of making the strictest forms of poetry sound like they are just super clever with a natural flow that seems to be coming out of nowhere. I would also have to say that I'm not so sure creativity really comes from the heart and soul. It's more like sweat and perseverance. F*ck muses and inspiration. I've got a job to do here.
[Sneezes] That's sooo beautiful, @Rats heh, heh heh, [evil] ... My first open mic was a 'Spoken Word Night.' But I didn't know what 'spoken word' meant - so I spoke my words to the microphone - oblivious to parameters. Only later did I comprehend - although being a 'Poetry Open Spoken Word Mic Night' I might have sung words into a diaper and nobody would have blinked. That's one of the fun things about open nights - lunatics emerging from bedrooms- with visions scribbled across a scrap of paper, or on their phone. My god, 'phone poets' are the shits: 'Yeah, err, I, err made this one up on the train on the way here because I'm a genius, it's called Snapchat...snap/chat/phat/rat tat tat/what is that/ ba boom da boom/clean my room/fetch my broom/bitch/or make me a sandwich/ditch/witch/I 'm not your child/well, I kind of am/mom/not a moron/perhaps I am the one? Thank you, thank you.'
@Shnette @deadrats @matwoolf I have a poem posted on the forum entitled Dear Temptation, and it is written in the Spoken Word style. I'd love for yall to check it out and tell me what you think! Thanks in advance - t
Hi all, My name is Maldini and I'm on a mission to turn my weaknesses into strengths as well as use my natural gifts and abilities. Using my voice through speech was something I found really hard to do in the past and so I decided to get into spoken word poetry. It feels right and I wanna share it with the world. If you're into spoken word poetry, check out my work at: [link deleted by moderator...see the rules] thanks,
Poetry is meant to be vocalized. Okay, it doesn't need to be but a good poem will stand up to being read aloud. Forms are not essential to poetry but being familiar with them and understanding why so many poets have used them will help any poet. Meter and rhyme are there to lend vividness to words, accentuate certain ideas, draw startling parallels, and make poetry more memorable. They are not the only ways to do these things but a good sense of meter and sonics is important even in free verse. So practicing some formal poetry helps to get us thinking about these aspects even when we don't use the forms. In my experience poets who don't read many other poets, don't study the craft (or at least glimpse it by means of good examples) tend to produce stuff they may think is brilliant but which sounds sloppy, full of tired, uninspired phrases and images, and considerably less original or vital than they think it is.
I love rap and hip-hop of all kinds and study it pretty damn relentlessly. There is a lot out there that literary types probably overlook due to the superficial nature of the genre these days. There is irony and hilarity to be found in the 'mumble rap' generation, and some incredibly obscure artists out there that are poets in their own right. I prefer rap to spoken word as it takes something more than speaking with conviction, it requires a conversational rhythm on beat. The way in which it is a hybrid of talent (in some cases) is hard for me to explain now that I'm in a bit of a messed up state but I'll put a couple of my favourite tracks, in terms of poetry below. I thought Buddy Wakefield - Convenience Stores was great though. It's a matter of accessibility these days and getting profound messages out to the younger generations, where reading voluntarily...especially poetry is something no longer common and because of this I believe the genre to be incredibly important. Looking up lyrics on Genius is always fun, although the better tracks usually don't have annotations, funnily enough. Billy Woods - Spider Hole Mac Miller - Diablo Jay Electronica - Eternal Sunshine (Absolute masterpiece, he started homeless, got married to a Rothschild and signed to Jay Z from the lyricism in this track alone.) Earl Sweatshirt - Solace Kendrick - God is Gangsta ('u' is really the first track, his master work - could go on about Kendrick forever like the masses do these days though) Kendrick - The Art of Peer Pressure Kendrick - Mortal Man (featuring a produced (contrived) conversation with Pac with his poetry and discussion at the end) I could go on forever and I'm sorry if I derailed this at all. I just think rap gets a bad deal amongst literary people these days.
Poems exist because they were spoken. They had rules to make them easy to remember. Poems should be spoken and spoken word poetry is an extension if written poetry. It isn't just made up on the fly, like some may suggest, but usually scripted just as carefully as any other work. Spoken word poetry and poetry slams, many of which I have attended and participated in, are simply an extension of written poetry where the speaker adds emotion and energy to the work.
