But in Hiroshima, some people were wiped clean away, leaving only a wristwatch or a diary page. So no matter that I have inhibitions to fill all my pockets, I keep trying, hoping that one day I'll write a poem I can be proud to let sit in a museum exhibit as the only proof I existed.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the desire for meaningful expression and remembrance in the face of loss.
In this poignant quote, Sarah Kay expresses the profound impact of witnessing destruction on human lives, symbolized by remnants like a wristwatch or diary page. It conveys a struggle between personal insecurities and the aspiration to create something lasting and significant, with the hope that one's artistic expression can serve as a testament to existence, akin to an exhibited poem that captures the essence of one’s life amid the transient nature of life and memory.
In practice
This quote can be used in a poetry reading to inspire others about the significance of creative expression.
When I hear other people's stories, I like to believe that they contribute to my 'Encyclopedia of Human Experience.' The stories I hear help me expand my definition of what love is, what pain feels like, what sacrifice means, what laughter can do.
Spoken word poetry is the art of performance poetry. I tell people it involves creating poetry that doesn't just want to sit on paper, that something about it demands it be heard out loud or witnessed in person.
Life will hit you hard in the face, wait for you to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
If I should have a daughter, instead of "Mom," she's going to call me "Point B," because that way she knows that no matter what happens, at least she can always find her way to me.
Not all poetry wants to be storytelling. And not all storytelling wants to be poetry. But great storytellers and great poets share something in common: They had something to say, and did.
To me, having the courage to tell your own story goes hand in hand with having the curiosity and humility to listen to others' stories.
What makes art in general, and literature in particular, remarkable, what distinguishes them from life, is precisely that they abhor repetition. In everyday life, you can tell the same joke thrice and, thrice getting a laugh, become the life of the party. In art, though, this sort of conduct is called 'cliche.'
I think if you're writing a play, it should be its own end game; you'll never get to do a good one unless you know it's not a blueprint for a film; you're not going to get the action right and the story right.
I had no proof that I had the stuff to be an artist, though I hungered to be one.
Sweet bird, that shun the noise of folly, most musical, most melancholy!
When you write a play, you work out like a musician on a piece of music. You find all the rhythms and the melody and the harmonies and take them as they come.
You see, I am a poet, and not quite right in the head, darling. It’s only that.
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