Spoken Word

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My last poem was a piece I had created for the launch of a Carnival troupe and it was created and performed before it was even typed. I say typed because I didn't even write it and then post it on the blog. It was tattooed into my brain so I can speak it and then transcribed straight to this blog.

Now before I did the piece at the launch itself, I had given a few people the rough spoken word performance and it was well received. It was even enhanced by the suggestions from people (I now understand how to collaborate and make it work). So when it was time to lay it down I was real tight with it. Of course I could do better, but I could have done a whole lot worse.

The reception was not bad, but when I saw the comment left on my pic on FaceBook, a phrase came to mind. I looked up where it came from and it turns out it came from Matthew 7:6 and it goes

'Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.'

 I'm not saying the people at the launch are dogs or swine, I'm just saying that one should not waste your talent on people who would not appreciate it, who would not nurture it, support it and be inspired by it. They are not the type of people who would stay up late on a Saturday night to catch an episode of Def Poetry Jam or watch countless spoken word videos on YouTube. Most of these people don't know about the different open mics that are here on island and understand the lyrical skill that exists among them on this small island.

Our talents are holy, they are our gifts and should be used fully until they are spent, but we should never give what is holy, even if it is holy to ourselves only, to those who will never appreciate them. That's all I have to say on the matter. Below are some clips I found on YouTube, enjoy.