Today I wanted to do something a little different. Every week I write a poem and tell you the hows and whys and the message, but I have never really delved into my inspirations and history within spoken word. Its not a particularly crazy story, but it does give me the chance to share some of my favorite poets with you all and any excuse to do that is good by me.

My first significant experience with poetry was in eighth grade. We listened to “To This Day” by Shane Koyczan (Remember him we’ll come back to him in a bit). This was my first time hearing spoken word and it led to me getting really into my first poetry assignment in school, an “I am” poem based on my identity. That same year (I think it gets a bit fuzzy) I heard a friend of mine perform “Scratch & Dent Dreams.” It was here that I realized how attainable poetry really is. After eight grade I lost track of poetry. I would hear the occasional poem from people like Suli Breaks who have a tendency to go viral on Facebook. In the tenth grade my English class participated in a school version of Poetry Out Loud. The poem was titled “Advice to a Prophet” by Richard Wilbur. It was during this project that I fell in love with poetry. It became a running joke. Here I was, the science and math nerd, reciting poetry. Sometimes I found people like Harry Baker and his melding of math and poetry, but I also fell into the deep pit of poetry online. Groups like Button Poetry and Write About Now filled the gaps, but it was specific poets that captured my ears and caused me to stare into a mirror and start speaking. It was Levi The Poet, listener, Neil Hilborn, and Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye that inspired me. Listener’s poems “Wooden Heart” and “You Were A House On Fire” inspired me to give music to my words. Levi The Poet’s series Correspondence Fiction inspired me to tell a story that is part fiction and part reality. Neil Hilborn’s “OCD” and “Punk Rock John” inspired me to put every ounce of energy into each poem. And Shane Koyczan (told you to remember the name), his poem “my darling sara” taught me to pour my heart out.

Every poem I hear taught me something new. When I find a new poet or spoken word band like Hotel Books, TAL, Sleeping Giant, and To Speak Of Wolves, I am changed. My poetry like my life is a quilt of experiences. It is the sum of influences and experiences. It is the poets who inspire me that make me stand and speak. They are the wind in my sail and they may never know it. But that’s okay. They live their life creating incredible beauty, incredible sadness, incredible joy. They give birth to new stories and to memories. They give me a release. And they inspire me to do the same.