“I marched through my own heart armed with nothing and came out the other side.”
Heading into the new year, we’ll be counting down the top-viewed videos on Button from 2018! Coming in fourth on the list, “This Woman” by Alysia Harris. Congratulations Alysia!
Note: This countdown list only covers a small fraction of the brilliant artists who let us share their work on our channel this year, and is by no means a definitive list of the “best” poems, simply the ones that got the most views. Take some time and check out more from the past year on our channel.
Appreciating poetry is often about patience: sitting with a poem, meditating on it, and re-reading it multiple times. With spoken word, we don’t always get a chance to do that. This series is about taking that chance, and diving a little deeper into some of the new poems going up on Button.
“Sometimes joy means you have to be an archaeologist and an astronomer rolled into one. Sometimes you gotta dig deeper. Sometimes you have to see farther.”
Near the end of 2017, I found myself thinking a lot about anthemic poems— big, inspiring, powerful pieces that go beyond just “being right” about an issue, or just being well-crafted, or just getting high slam scores. For me, anthemic poems are poems that do a specific kind of work– if they’re political, for example, they preach to the choir in a way that is both validating and challenging; they’re not hyper-specific critiques (which can also be good and valuable) as much as they are rallying cries or calls to action. These are poems that don’t just get snaps in spoken word spaces; they could be performed at a march, or a campaign kickoff, or in other spaces where energy and vision are needed.
“Joy” is an anthem. It may not be “political” in the sense described above, but it challenges us to understand the term “political” in a deeper, fuller way. By zooming in on a relatable, human situation, the poem finds an entry point for an exploration of a concept that is too often flattened into greeting-card platitudes. Joy isn’t just falling in love and living happily ever after– it is also “finding yourself warm enough for these lonely winter nights,” and “being beautiful, and not having to have a man tell you so.”
Poems don’t have to have happy endings. They don’t have to teach us things, or have specific thesis statements. But there is power in intentionality, in challenging ourselves to ask “what do I want people to walk away with after they’ve read/heard this poem?” That question gets to the core of how I think about anthems, as well as why I think Harris’ poem works so well.
“Learn to walk again. Look in the mirror and learn to love your scarred face again, after being singed.”
Don’t miss this powerful poem by Alysia Harris, featuring at Button Poetry Live. If you’re in the Twin Cities, don’t miss the next Button Poetry Live show, first Monday of every month in downtown Saint Paul, or watch LIVE from our YouTube Channel.
“I had to remember my joy, had to speak it into being, and when I looked up from my blood-soaked hands I saw that it was good.”
Don’t miss this phenomenal poem from Alysia Harris, featuring at Button Poetry Live, May 2017. If you’re in the Twin Cities, don’t miss the next Button Poetry Live show, first Monday of every month in downtown Saint Paul, or watch LIVE from our YouTube Channel.