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Since the release of my book, Blurred Vision, there are 2 questions I hear pretty often. The first question is “What was your inspiration behind the poems?”  As far as inspiration, there’s really no telling what it could be. Although my primary inspiration is from personal thoughts or feelings I have about a situation at the moment, I can also be inspired by anger, a conversation, a song on the radio or just being observant of people. The inspiration is all around me and I love absorbing it.

The second question I hear is “Where/When do you perform spoken word?” I have begun to really think in-depth about this because to me there is a difference between spoken word and poetry. I like to think of poetry as more of a buffet and spoken word as a streamlined main course (I love food, so I relate a lot of things to it, lol). With poetry, the author writes it and 4 readers may get 4 different interpretations out of it. There’s more room for choice on the reader’s part of what the author truly means. However, with spoken word, there is little room for ambiguity. Take the following lines for instance:

The sky sleeps with

Royal blankets of blue hue

It’s aura is inviting

Just like the thought of you

Just reading this, you can take it in several different ways. True, you could possibly be able to conclude that there is a warm feeling of the sky in comparison to a special person. But with spoken word, you probably would be able to really know what is meant by this stanza. Depending on if the tone is comical, dark, quirky, aggressive or soft-spoken helps convey the intended message. I have recently started getting into spoken word more and I actually enjoy it. But if I had to choose between the 2, I am a poet first. Don’t get me wrong, there are awesome poets whose spoken word delivery is just as meaningful. But I love giving someone a piece of my work and letting them draw their own conclusions. I will say though that with any craft, you should surround yourself with like-minded people. I think poetry is no different. I get some of my most creative peauxetic (poetic) thoughts right after I leave a spoken word event. Just being around that energy is something that’s very exciting and inspiring.

Which do you prefer, poetry or spoken word? Is there even a difference? Check out the clip below of Lauryn Hill reciting a poem called “Motives and Thoughts”…..great piece and she’s really speaking truth here. On another note, she really needs to make a comeback. Her music is missed .

And make sure to get my book, Blurred Vision, if you don’t already have it.  Just click on the BuyNow button below.