Sarah Kay & Phil Kaye : My Favourite Spoken Word Poets

Hey everyone !!

Hope everyone’s weekend is going on well. My weekend is a bit more hectic than I’d like, but that’s okay.

Now this is a post I’ve been wanting to do for sometime now, but kept putting it off for “later”. This week I introduced a friend to the works of Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye, who happen to be my favourite spoken word poets, and I thought “it’s high time I wrote that post”.

Last year, I was searching for some spoken word poetry on YouTube and stumbled upon “Repetition” by Phil Kaye. I loved it and searched for more of his works and then got introduced to Sarah’s works. I’ve introduced their works to a lot of my friends and it’s always wonderful to see their reactions. The last time they were in India, I didn’t know of the event and so I missed out. That was disappointing, but hey ! there’s always a next time, right ?

So in this post, I’m going to share some of my favourites from their works, with you. SPOILER ALERT : I will be quoting my favourite lines as well, so if you don’t want to know those, just don’t read the quotes. Here goes –

1. If I should have a daughter by Sarah Kay

I heard this as a part ofher TED talk and I had goosebumps. If you want to hear the whole TED talk, you can find it here. I’m only putting up the poem here.

Now, I don’t want to give away all the good bits, so I’m not really putting up all my favourite quotes. I’m only quoting one of them, you can skip straight to the video without reading the quote below, if you want zero spoilers :

“… this world is made of sugar. It can crumble so easily, but don’t be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it… “

2. When Love Arrives by Sarah Kay & Phil Kaye

Oh ! how I LOVE this one. I even sent this to my sister when she had just broken up with her boyfriend. It’s just the best poem on love there is (at least to me). Also, can we just appreciate the level of coordination in this video.

Again, I don’t want to give away all the good parts. In fact, I’m not going to quote them for this one because it’s difficult to quote without context. But, I highly recommend this one.

3. Beginning, Middle and End by Phil Kaye

This is again, such a powerful one. While I always found multiple videos of the other ones, there’s only one of this. This was perhaps the second one I heard and loved.

Again, only quoting the most repeated line (also one of the most beautiful lines), so if you want zero spoilers, skip the quote to get to the video.

“Every great story has a beginning, middle and end, not necessarily in that order…”

4. The Type by Sarah Kay

In a world full of poetry about feminism and woman empowerment, most of which are shouted out rather than recited, this is the ONLY poem I’ve ever truly LOVED and appreciated. You might think there are plenty of good poems, yes there are, but I don’t personally like them.

Skip the quote to avoid spoilers :

“When you fall in love it is discovering the ocean after years of puddle jumping. …”

5. Origin Story by Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye

The title is exactly what the poem is about. It’s their origin story. So, why then was this not the first one in this list, you ask ? Because, I believe you need to first know and appreciate the art, before you know the artist.

These two are truly friendship goals.

6. Surplus by Phil Kaye

A poem about Phil’s grandfather’s store and it is again a beautiful poem. I don’t even know why I’m bothering with these texts, I should just let the videos speak for themselves.

7. Mrs. Rebeiro by Sarah Kay

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard this one. If you’re a teacher, try to be someone’s Mrs. Rebeiro. As a student, I’m sure everyone has had at least one Mrs. Rebeiro in their lives. I’m lucky to have a few of such teachers.

Skip the quote to avoid spoilers :

“… My world was the size of a crayon box and it took every colour to draw her.. “

8. Numbers Man by Phil Kaye

Trust me only Phil Kaye can make me tear up about a computer. This one is from the perspective of his old computer. As a daughter of a woman who, as a kid, wrote “Autobiography of a pencil” for a school assignment, I’ve grown up feeling terrible every time I discard anything old and get something new as replacement. However, I never teared up until this poem came along.

9. For My Grandother by Phil Kaye

I’ll just shut up and let you hear this..

10. Repetition by Phil Kaye

I decided to end this post with the one that introduced me to these 2 wonderful poets.

Again, skip the quote to avoid spoilers :

“If you repeat something over and over again, it loses its meaning…”

 

Now, of course these aren’t the only ones I like, but if I started listing all of their works, this post will be way too long. Thanks for reading through.

If you’ve listened to their poetry before, let me know your favourite ones. If you got to know about them from this post, let me know what you think of these and which ones you liked best.

Have a great weekend everyone !!

-Vrinda.