Poetry Slam: It's Not About the School Lunch

Poetry Choice

Song of Myself

Kris B.

Nothing,
Like space vast and limitless,
The non-existence of feeling, emotion, of thinking, of being.

A man, lost wandering the desert,
Paper, blank, white, thoughtless
The nothingness of a miracle.

Nothing,
Like the atom that constitutes everything,
The silence that rings through the streets.

A young girl running from the blackness, the dark, the blinding darkness, screaming nothing
The persistence of memory, memory, memory,
The nothingness of poetry.

Poetry,
Egocentric and personal,
The cover of a book.*

Words, random marks on paper
Strange sounds like blurs,
Poetry is poetry.

A summer’s day, a midnight dreary,
Miles to go, weak and weary.
How do I love thee?

Who cares
That the plums are no longer existent,
That I took the road not taken?

That these words mean everything to me,
To you,
The everything of poetry.

It is just a girl with a pearl earring,
The hustle and bustle of a busy street in the golden afternoon light,
An elderly man embracing his son with ‘I love yous’

The bell which rings loud and clear through the town,
Like the atom that constitutes nothing, which is really
Everything.

The everything of a miracle,
A poem transcribed, colors fill the page to every corner of creativity,
A lady, who blurts ‘yes’ before the man kneeling before her even speaks.

The absence of feeling, emotion, of thinking, of doing; but being, it just it
Like space vast and limitless,
Everything.

Poetry is everything
Poetry is nothing
But there is its purpose.

Afghan Poetry Video Reflection

To watch the Poetry as a Weapon of War video about the Taliban’s use of song and rhythm reminded me of a tape my grandmother used to play to me in her car. It was a compilation of historic patriotic songs (from WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War) including, “Over There” by George M. Cohan, and “The Ballad of the Green Berets” by Robin Moore and Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler, and I remember the beats, the words and the tones of the songs, which were dignifying, stimulating and uplifting. I can only imagine now how motivational and convenient these tunes were for recruiting young men and woman into the war. In fact, “Over There” was No. 1 on the Hot 100 for five weeks in 1966, even though the American public at the time had negative opinions on the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War.1 In History class in tenth grade as well, we studied how poetry was used as propaganda for recruiting soldiers and strengthening the patriotic spirit at home during WWI, especially in Great Britain. From the success of the songs my grandmother used to play and from learning how poetry influenced World War One, I believe it is a smart tactic for the Taliban and its supporters, although scary for those who are against them, which includes us in the United States. If, as shown in the video, the Taliban is disseminating these poems and songs as successfully as it says, the Taliban will undoubtedly increase its espousal.

1. http://www.billboard.com/specials/hot100/charts/top50-no1s-60s.shtml