National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. I have been reading amazing poems all month on the blogs of others, but I haven't really thought of doing my own post on it until someone asked the other day, "Who is your favorite living poet?" It was almost rhetorical, a way to make the point that it is hard to name living poets and most people's favorite poets are dead. Not mine. About 7 or 8 years ago, I heard and fell in love with Saul Williams. A spoken-word artist, a poet, someone who could so easily be called a rapper and dismissed, but someone who insisted that he was a poet, not a rapper. (Or maybe both.)

This is what has happened to poetry. It became part of the subculture. You can still find poetry jams and open mike nights around the Twin Cities, but is a part of the hip-hop community. The only people desperate enough to keep the art form alive. (Because somehow, poetry is always a desperate art form to me.)

So, without further ado, I give you my two favorite Saul Williams poems from his album Amethyst Rock Star:





I would post the poem that I wrote the other day at this point, but it needs some editing. Maybe I will post it as the great finale for April.