As someone who loves all things artistic, it was no surprise when I came to college and discovered the fantastic world of spoken word poetry from someone in my writing class. As I stayed up way past midnight to watch any kind of poem I could, I became obsessed with this seemingly unfamiliar world. Here are 15 spoken word poems that will instantly put you in the feels:
15. “Explaining My Depression to My Mother” by Sabrina Benaim
Notable line: “Mom says I am so good at making something out of nothing and then flat out asks if I am dying. No, I am afraid of living; mom I am lonely.”
14. “14 Lines from Love Letters or Suicide Notes” by David 'Doc' Luben
13. “How to Love Your Introvert” by Kevin Yang
12. “Somewhere in America” by Belissa Escoloedo, Ziraya Allen & Rhiannon McGavin
Notable Line: “We were taught that just because something happens, doesn’t mean you are allowed to talk about it.”
11. "When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny" by Blythe Baird
Notable Line: “If you develop an eating disorder when you are already thin to begin with, you go to the hospital. If you develop an eating disorder when you are not already thin to begin with, you are a success story.”
10. "The Type" by Sarah Kay
Notable Line: “So forgive yourself for the decisions you have made; the ones you still call mistakes when you tuck them in at night.”
9. "On Doing Laundry as a Single Girl” by Erin Anastasia
Notable Line: “There’s something liberating about becoming the girl you judged in high school.”
8. "OCD" by Neil Hilborn
Notable Line: “But how can it be a mistake that I don’t have to wash my hands after I touch her?”
7. "Scars/To the New Boyfriend" by Rudy Francisco
Notable Line: "Loving you was the last thing I felt really good at."
6. “When Love Arrives” by Sarah Kay & Phil Kaye
Notable Line: “Maybe love stays – maybe love can’t. Maybe love shouldn’t.”
5. “Lost Voices” by Scout Bostly & Darius Simpson
Notable Line: “As a woman I have learned to answer to everything except my name.”
4. "And the News Reporter Says Jesus is White" by Crystal Valentine
Notable Line: "How can she say Jesus was a white man when he died in the blackest way possible? With his hands up, his mother watching - crying at his feet."
3. "A Letter to My Unborn Daughter" by Javon Johnson
Notable Line: "Baby girl, daddy wants you to own your own body; wants you to know what it's like to live life like humans were made to jump out of planes without parachutes."
2. "I do" by RJ Walker
Notable Line: "But every bullet hole I've ever seen looks like it's trying to mouth the words 'I'm Sorry'."
1. "Children of Divorce (COD)" by Shay Patrick, Phen Bowman, and Saidu Tejan-Thomas
Notable Line: "I attempted to rewire my parents the same way a child playing Call of Duty can only watch as the connection is divorced in front of him. I wanted to plug them back in, but they both put down the controllers and neither stopped to consult the ones still left in the game."
*Click on the pictures to be taken to a video of them performing the poem*
