Academik

One of the nicest parts about living in SF is access. I’ve got access to music,arts,words,images,and people that are extra-ordinary. Tonight was one of those nights - Mouth Off is one of those events. Like Artist’ Night Out in DTX it is a place where I find friends, friendly faces, food for my frontal lobe and intellectual pabulum. I met Amir Sulaiman tonight at Mouth Off. One of the best spoken word poets in the country - he does this for a living folks - he pays his rent with money he earns from speaking and performing and selling his CDs. And as angry as his words are, as soon as he steps off the mic, he seems more like a teddy bear than a man with a mean mouthful of troof.

Tonight I had the opportunity to get up and speak some troof. ‘Say Yes’ by Andrea Gibson which is posted on her page and here under the ‘words’ page. It is only the second time that I have performed spoken word poetry - and the first time that I performed Say Yes.

My legs shake uncontrollably, my voice quivers, and my heart pounds as if it has grown to fill my entire torso. I misspeak and then I close my eyes - how can I not know this poem? These are the words I have said hundreds of times, the words I speak every night before I go to bed to remind me that ‘the purpose of life is to give ourselves away.’ And yet the words take their time escaping my throat at times. I close my eyes and pull the covers up to keep my vocal cords warm and the fear goes away.

The words crescendo and I open my eyes to connect with the gaze of my peers and the words splatter from my mouth as if I was pouring a bucket of lessons onto the walls. I have no fear. I know what I must do. I am simply nervous. This too shall pass. I continue the words that give me such power every day; I’m happy to give, to share these words and ideas in the hopes that it will move people to action. To be engaged. To be interested.

If you’ve never been to a spoken word event you should. You will connect and it will open your eyes. Let me know if you have any questions about spoken word/slam poetry and I’d love to help you find an event in your area.

-academik