Young artists use a new form of poetry known as Spoken Word to express the pain, frustration, joy, and heartache of love and sexuality.

If I could hold back
the inevitable
and push the
unpredictable out
into the open …
If I could swallow
my qualms about fate
and blow bubbles
of spontaneity
from my wand of youth …
Then I would scream
clear into the night
and let the open
swallow me up whole.
Then I would shatter
the “windows to the world”
and reinvent them
when my youth says I’m ready.

Writer Unkown

Why can’t I be that girl? asked one young artist, Alysia, in her poem at the Philadelphia Regional Final of Brave New Voices, a show that was produced by Russell Simmons after a successful 6 seasons of Def Poetry.

In her poem, Alysia is confronting a boyfriend who wants her to remain in the shadows as ”his whore,’ for no one to know that “He holds her hand.” It is a pain filled poem about a problem many young people experience: giving in to a man’s sexual demands only to be branded a whore, for his friends and family to be unaware of her very existence. This powerful poem illustrates the power of the  spoken word.

Alysia and many other poets are using a new form of poetry to express their feelings on love: spoken word.

What is spoken word?

According to Wikipedia, Spoken Word is a phenomenon where poets speak their lyrics or poetry rather than singing them.  Spoken Word is related to “poetry slams” where spoken word artists  square off in cabaret-style duels. Although it has been popular in India for centuries, it only took shape in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the United States, slam poetry probably arose from rap music and rapper competitions. The common element is protest and a critical or corrective tone.

New HBO series

Brave New Voices is a new HBO series about teenagers using Spoken Word. It many young people picking up the pen and taking hold of the microphone with passion, intelligence, creativity, honesty and power. Youths express their thoughts and emotions in creative and often poignant ways.

The series has become a success mainly due to the involvement of Youth Speaks, an organization founded in 1996 which has been a leading nonprofit presenter of Spoken Word performance, education, and youth development programs in the country. In addition to hosting local and national youth poetry slams, festivals, reading series, and other events, Youth Speaks also offers a comprehensive slate of literary arts education programs during the school day and after-school. In total, Youth Speaks works with 45,000 teens per year in the Bay Area alone and has created partner programs in 36 cities across the United States.

I don’t love you

Below is a poem by one of the contestants in the Brave New World Slam poetry series, entitled, “I don’t love you.”

V is for virgin

Below is a performance from Brave New Voices by a young artist named George Watsky, called, “V is for Virgin.”

The power of the spoken word

Diego, a 16 years old spoken word poet featured on the HBO series, talks about his love for this new form of art. In his own performance, he compares his feelings about spoken word poetry to the love of a girlfriend.

First poetry sex slam

On May 16, 2007, the first ever Poetry Sex Slam was hosted by M.A.R.S., (Men Advocates for Responsible Sexuality), an organization that addresses the sexual and reproductive health concerns of incarcerated males age 13-25.

M.A.R.S. hosted the event in collaboration with the Corvallis poetry group, “Pints and Poetry.” Festivities took place at Iovinos Ristorante in Corvallis, and over 100 participants attended. Audience members judged poets delivering messages on safe sex, love, and sexuality in the form of spoken-word poetry.

On May 14 2008, MARS hosted the 2^nd annual Poetry Sex Slam at Cloud 9. This time, the audience more than doubled as over 200 people attended.

Sharing their experiences

Youth Action Network is another organization that has been using spoken word to reach out to others. Teens involved with the organization share their experiences of young people growing up in Canada.

As poetry changes in form and style, the way it affects young people has changed too. Young people are using this new form of poetry to let their brave new voices be heard.

The opinions expressed in this text are those of the author.