Poetry Friday

I've noticed that a lot of people who have book blogs post a poem every Friday. Seeing as how I love poetry, I thought I would also indulge in posting a poem every Friday.

Today's poem is by Taylor Mali because after seeing "What Teachers Make" on YouTube, I promptly ordered both of his books. This poem is from his book The Last Time As We Are.


The Call to What We Know

The last thing this world needs
is another poem about flowers,
the passing hours, or the demands of time,
written in language no one understands,
and doesn't rhyme.

Every time I have turned
to words and found or heard a truth
I never knew I'd learned by heart,
it was always proof I was a part
of something bigger than myself,
a communion of dark moonlight
with night ground, or the union
of a kiss forgiving only this:
We the living delight in sound.

Diverting Momentarily

I feel the need to divert from the theme of this blog for a moment to post a video of a slam poetry performance on YouTube that I just recently discovered. Actually, I didn't discover it on my own, my uncle sent me an email and recommended I look up poet Taylor Mali on YouTube.

The poem is called "What Teachers Make" and oh my did it send me into a fit of sobs it was so powerful. It was the perfect thing for me to see with the school year beginning in only a few short weeks and really made me feel empowered for the year ahead. I've watched it so many times that I almost have the whole thing memorized. And oh boy does that last line get to me every time.