Blythe Baird - The Kindest Thing She Almost Did

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Blythe Baird, performing at Icehouse in Minneapolis, MN.
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We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry's audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.

[@JanuaryLovesSelena]

I picked a good poem to listen to. I picked a bad time to listen to it.

[@punya1621]

It's never a bad time to listen to a poem!

[@purplesun5383]

I can relate!

[@jewelmoore6402]

Same

[@brookegygi9427]

Sarah J same

[@deepanshu564]

You're not alone

[@newalighieri3421]

“I wonder if she wants a lover or a writing prompt” **clickclickclickclick**

[@Scholz23]

The line that made me feel attacked lol

[@sirrismendozasunlessrealms5775]

What is the clickclick meaning?

[@thegreatwhiterainbow4277]

@@sirrismendozasunlessrealms5775 it's used commonly during these situations instead of clapping to allow the poet to remain uninterrupted and personally I feel it's a much more intimate way to express your liking

[@sirrismendozasunlessrealms5775]

@@thegreatwhiterainbow4277 but how does it sound? Art of Life wrote a message, how would it "allow the poet to remain uninterrupted"? I thought it was like a metaphor for something

[@thegreatwhiterainbow4277]

@@sirrismendozasunlessrealms5775 if you really want to get technical it's just stuck around from the days of people holding wine glasses and trying to applaud at show at the same time. Like 1950s or something. That way they could snap while holding their glass but now it's just softer than a roaring applause so we kept it and its tradition.

[@amayabelle8678]

“I will be whatever you want me to be” “That’s the problem” - I felt that

[@nikitagill847]

“When I asked her what she lived about him she says I know this is bad but he was so terrible to me that I never ran out of things to write about. I wonder if she wants a lover or a writing prompt. There is a certain high to hating yourself.” - this whole bit right here encapsulates so many toxic relationships. You grow addicted to the abuse because you believe the abuse is giving you something not taking something from you. This was a brilliant poem, Blythe is wonderful.

[@ButtonPoetry]

Thanks for the love!

[@nikitagill847]

Button Poetry Thank you for all the poetry! ❤️

[@1408vs]

@Nikita Gill : You write poems right? hope it is the same Nikita. I have came across some of your works. I have a few saved in my folder as well. 'Ancestors' and 'the girl he loves' at times strike at my mind. All the best dude. Keep going!

[@renmager6483]

This reminded me of my ex and im fucked up.

[@abbigail3923]

The truth into it is stranger Than fiction. Thanks for sharing..

[@amykoyman9210]

She tells me "I don't know how to love anyone with me whole being" I tell her "I don't know how to not" In an effort to make her stay, I tell her "I will be anything you want me to be" She tells me "That is the problem" rip me

[@TheAbysmalOblivion]

That is the problem isn't it? I will do anything to be loved, but it some how is the reason I can't be loved. I get it. I really do, I just can't fucking change who I am and I hate myself for it.

[@ima_potato7346]

No one wants a yes man

[@thegreatwhiterainbow4277]

Ik....this just says so much

[@nevaehsoto8880]

I fully relate to this considering we had a similar conversation and this was the exact ending of it..

[@yeetyeet1655]

“When she tells me that she loves me, and that she has a lying problem, on the same day...I know I’m f***ed” I felt that

[@samreenk.8026]

“she tells me, ‘i don’t know how to love anyone with my whole being,’ and all at once, i feel so stupid, and so small, as i tell her, ‘well, i don’t know how to not.’” i love love love

[@thespiritbox1030]

The only thing sadder than the poem itself is how many people (such as myself) relate to it.

[@bethroesch2156]

It's a very big club✌️

[@NicoleJhaziel]

Idk what’s harder, being the girl stuck on someone who hurt you when you have found someone who is good to you or being in love with the girl who is still stuck on someone who hurt them.

[@aquamar1003]

Well the second turns into the first most of the time. My ex didn't want to hurt me. He is a really kind person, but he was stuck on somone who hurt him. So he knew how it felt to be almost loved and then he started to almost love me. A relationship like that just can't work out. Seems like a vicious circle, right? But we talked a lot and broke up and through. I won't hurt someone in that way.

[@Nejidabest]

I was in a similar situation... happened a few times actually , and you are so right about the latter turning into the former without meaning to. it was only when I stopped trying , and naturally let myself truly fall in love with my current boyfriend that I was able to get over my ex , and commit to my current relationship. We celebrated our one year anniversary 3 days ago.

[@tngarner3581]

Being both simultaneously.

[@StealingSunsets]

I've been both and they were both horrific forms of slow torture honestly, and everyone involved suffered

[@Noah-lo9vb]

@@aquamar1003 Yep. Me too. I'm breaking the cycle right now, I've almost loved two people and I'll never forgive myself. Now I'm staying single until I really, truly, fall in love again, with someone else.

[@mayaeveileb8512]

It's been a while since I heard this one but it still gets me, "I do not hate him for becoming the flood in my backyard, I do not hate myself for falling in love with a drought dressed like a girl, but I do hate myself for falling in love with feeling loved. Years later she is drunk when she tells me, 'loving you is the kindest thing I almost did' and how impossible it is to train the heart to sit'." One of the earliest spoken word poets I ever listened to and you still catch me at every line.

[@katiefarrell5332]

I see Blythe, I click.

[@OpalSivan]

Katie Farrell we’re simple people

[@conabiswas1540]

“he was so terrible to me, that I never ran out of things to write about” this hit me hard because this is very very true!! It was always in the times of darkness, and hurt by past relationships that sparked my greatest poetry! This was beautiful ♥️

[@Noah-lo9vb]

So true. Some of my biggest problems stemmed from that place, I think.

[@katelynnbleh1730]

"I do hate myself for falling in love with feeling loved" "Loving you is the kindest thing I almost did"" And how impossible it is, to teach the heart to sit"

[@theltgamingplayz645]

"There is a certain high to hating yourself..."

[@katarina4308]

it was the year we woke up holding hands ike the otters do she mentions i'd look cute with a gap so i stopped wearing my retainer altogether when she tells me that she loves me and that she has a lying problem on the same day i know i'm completly and utterly fucked she makes me watch star wars with her and she doesn't even watch it she watches me watching it to make sure i'm reacting propertly i read her daily horoscope to her while she gets ready even though she doesn't believe it she stills tries to act interested in astrology and all that hippy dippy trippy shit i believe in but can't prove i fall in love with her quickly the way she wanted me to all skin and poem and diet coke listening to regina spektor on her bed while she calls me baby girl and plays with my hair when i find find a boys hair in the rough drafts of her poems i pretend not to when i ask her what she loved about him she says i know this is bad but he was so terrible to me i never ran out of things to write about. i wonder if she wants a lover or a writing prompt there is a certain high to hating yourself she told me once i try not to point the irony as she tries to explain how unheatlhy our relationship is between the drags of her cigarette when she taks me on a date to the same rink she used to roller-skate with her last love i do not stop when she apologizes for the way he is still key to her art i assure her it is no problem i try not to be jealous of his sheer good fortune i do not hate him for becoming the flood in my back yard i do not hate myself for falling in love with a drought dressed like a girl but i do hate myself for falling in love with feeling loved years later she is drunk when she tells me loving you is the kindest thing i almost did and how impossible it is to train the heart to sit the last time she shouts at me my name foams madly at her mouth she tells me i don't know how to love anyone with my all being and all at once i feel so stupid and so small as i tell her well i don't know how to not in an effort to get her to stay i promise i will be whatever you want me to be she tells me that is the problem (sorry if there are any mistakes)

[@Noah-lo9vb]

I think it's skin and palm and diet coke, and i do not sob, but maybe I'm wrong, that's just what I hear. Thanks for typing all this out!

[@Valeria-dn5pk]

The whole "I'll be whatever you want me to be" + "That's the problem" thing sucks too, al'right. When someone gives everything you too, to the point they loose themselves is a WHOLE mess. It's stressful, it makes you feel sick. It has you wondering what you'll do and how you'll do it so you don't hurt them, you don't break them, it makes you swallow up your words, your feelings, because the moment you say something they'll break down. Becoming someone's world is the scariest thing I've ever felt, to the point they'd do anything for me, that just terrifies me. That's not love, that's idolatry, and I don't want something like that.

[@cherylwade4365]

Valeria When someone adores or idolizes you it means you have the power to help them change their lives for the better if you want to . Helping them to change destructive behavior and leading them out of co dependent behaviors. That kind of love and friendship is very valuable even if you don't stay together afterwards having been through the experience together makes both of you stronger.

[@giasanders4799]

This is true but honestly it depends

[@sirrismendozasunlessrealms5775]

@@cherylwade4365 Okay... what if you don´t want to help them? Being a good person is hard. This is why some people don´t want pets: For many animals, the world will revolve around you. And for some that is just torture when you don´t want that.

[@quinnmoyer4003]

"it was the year we woke up holding hands like otters do she mentions i would look cute with a gap so i stop wearing my retainer all together when she tells me that she loves me and that she has a lying problem on the same day i know i am completely and utterly fucked she makes me watch star wars with her and then she doesn’t even watch it she watches me watching it to make sure i’m reacting properly i read her daily horoscope to her while she gets ready even though she doesn’t believe in it she still tries to act interested in astrology and all that other hippy-dippy-trippy shit i believe in but can’t prove i fall in love with her quickly the way she wanted me to all skin and poem and diet coke listening to regina spector on her bed while she calls me baby girl and plays with my hair when i find a boys hair in the rough drafts of her poems i pretend not to when i ask her what she loved about him she says i know this is bad but he was so terrible to me i never ran out of things to write about i wonder if she a lover or a writing prompt there is a certain high to hating yourself she told me once i try not to point out the irony as she explains how unhealthy our relationship is between drags of her cigarette when she takes me on a date to the same rink she used to roller skate at with her last love i do not sob when she apologizes for the way he is still the spare key to her art i assure her it is no problem i try not to be jealous of his sheer good fortune i do not hate him for becoming the flood in my backyard i do not hate myself for falling in love with a drought dressed like a girl but i do hate myself for falling in love with feeling loved years later she is drunk when she tells me loving you is the kindest thing i almost did and how impossible it is to train the heart to sit the last time she shouts at me byname foams madly in her mouth she tells me i don’t know how to love anyone with my whole being and all at once i feel so stupid and so small as i tell her well i don’t know how to not in an effort to get her to stay i promise her i will be whatever you want me to be she tells me that is the problem"

[@emilyh1937]

I almost hate this because I relate so completely to the girl this is about, some of us are too emotionally unattached to be able to form healthy relationships without hurting the other party, so I don't have relationships anymore. Love this poem Blythe! Even if it did feel like you were talking about me the entire time

[@lilredhead17]

the last 2 sentences... those 2 describe my past relationship exactly. No wait, those last 2 sentences are EXACTLY the words spoken in my last relationship. and it hurts. it hurts to love with everything you've got and not get it back, but also it's amazing. Until the point you're willing to change your whole being for someone else. Thank you Blythe for putting this into words

[@tigerwings2551]

Lilredhead It's twice as sad when you are the one that said "that's the problem". Those two sentences were also the last spoken in my last relationship, and I had to say that just so I could make my ex understand how unhealthy her obsession was.

[@lilredhead17]

@@tigerwings2551 it is unhealthy, the worst thing is that I (and your ex probably as well) is aware of that. And it's incredibly brave of you that you've been honest with her. We need more people like that

[@tigerwings2551]

Lilredhead thank you, but still it was really painful for both, I hope she can have a normal relationship with someone else someday

[@shelbenfield8783]

"In an effort to get her to stay I promise her, 'I will be anything you want me to be'. She tells me, 'That is the problem.'"

[@user-oy4cu7rx9y]

I immediately clicked when I saw Blythe!! Love her work and this is great 💕💞💖

[@RosalindPeters]

julia me too!

[@user-el9bm4vr1f]

"In an effort to get her to stay I tell her I will be whatever you want me to be she tell me that Is the problem " this whole poem speaks to me but that last line in particular.....just damn

[@Maleckey1]

"there is a certain high to hating yourself" no truer words have ever been spoken.

[@corymackenzie-gray4870]

I didn’t realise you could love a poem in the same way you can love a song

[@louiefurio3013]

"There's a certain high in hating yourself"

[@emilyfowler9217]

I love Blythe Baird. She is such an amazing poet

[@PoetryPen-rw9mz]

Here it is, I will be what ever you want me to be. So many times.

[@christy-anne-jones]

It is impossible for Blythe Baird to write a poem I don't absolutely love.

[@JanuaryLovesSelena]

Something I didn't pick up on until now: when she says "I will be whatever you want me to be" which is responded with "that is the problem", is it open to interpretation? Maybe it's that the girl wants her to be a boy, and that's the one thing she can't be no matter what. Or that the girl recognizes that she holds the power to get Blythe to do anything she wants, and she knows that she will abuse that power, so she's "saving" Blythe.

[@BlytheB]

Sarah J second one 🌹

[@MavisCCC]

I think she said that because, it Blythe is good to her, then she doesn't have things to write about. She need the bad love to keep on going, and Blythe wasn't it, so she wasn't needed anymore.

[@maceywieling9649]

sorry, I know this comment is old but I think that there's a possibility it could be both

[@BrookeChante]

This is honestly probably one of my new favorites.

[@fk3798]

God her poetry can make me cry even when I never had the experience

[@aperson501]

She's such a good poet and her mention of astrology immediately made me love her more

[@amiraelzokm]

“i do not hate him for becoming the flood in my back yard i do not hate myself for falling in love with the drought dressed like a girl but i do hate myself for falling in love with feeling loved.” FUCK THIS KILLED ME

[@ericamendoza4713]

This is really heavy. Thinking it could happen between man and woman, man and man, woman and woman. "And an effort to get her to stay I promise her, I will be whatever you want me to be"

[@user-ck2cw7ug5c]

Blythe you have been a major inspiration for years. Thanks for writing and sharing it with the world, because the world wouldn't be the same without your words.

[@rosherncain5989]

I come back to this almost every 2 months...

[@aloracarner8948]

my heart i felt this so much

[@richellesilva5397]

I needed this.

[@wanka6663]

this poem is EVERYTHING

[@uncomfortablehuman]

I’ve listened to this every day for two weeks

[@lovisajohansson53]

I love her so much 😍

[@kendallkieras1669]

ughhhh I've been waiting for a good recording of this poem for so long

[@danieldyal6098]

"I dont know how to love anyone with my whole being' and all at once I feel so stupid and so small as I tell her 'I dont know how to not'" BLYTHE THIS IS GORGEOUS

[@bailylamountain3628]

I wish she would perform all of her poems live ❤️

[@strawbrrycrybaby]

I LOVE THIS WOMAN

[@katarinabaird2856]

So excited to see this new Blythe Baird poem

[@bqwadseertg]

I love all of Blythe's poems

[@Nothinghumnisalien2me]

Seeing this live was amazing! Thank you for such an incredible show and an even more incredible connection

[@catdragon404]

so powerful. ❤️

[@eve6029]

chills. i always get chills when she performs :)

[@ilsetiscareno]

Blythe's poetry is always so relatable to me, it breaks my heart & soothes it at the same time every single time

[@chibibeingchibi3197]

Why I love so much her poems...they always touch me deep...

[@HY-qd1wk]

I love Blythe's poems

[@carissaharasym8331]

I love Blythe, so much and this hit home. I love her work so much

[@katelynnbleh1730]

Baird you're so amazing, I love this

[@serenitycy]

I love her poetry, she’s one of my favorites!! ❤️❤️

[@vanzisfine8025]

Blythe's poems are so good it makes my head buzz. Anyone else?

[@rileygallagher438]

OMG wow. Everything she writes is so beautiful!!!

[@gracejacobs4364]

Love blythe!!

[@elemya]

This poem somehow broke my heart, again

[@juwaria4262]

Left me speechless again, love you Blythe 💜💜

[@celine2468]

This is perfect in every possible way

[@koda2002]

Hands down my favourite poet! I love this woman, I'm so glad she's back!

[@nicolesandoval8728]

she's so good!!!!

[@kaylarandolph1968]

Wow. This was hurt and heart all in one.

[@celine2468]

Love you Blythe

[@avu2888]

I’ve never related to a poem more than I do to this one. Every single line hit too close to home, and I love it. 💙

[@audreyrene4776]

Blythe Baird and Sabrina Benaim are my favorites. Wow I absolutely love them and how meaningful every word is. Every syllable is a metaphor.

[@smyerskelley]

I love you Blythe! Always watch your new poems with my mum

[@brilliantbutterfly1817]

I relate so much to both sides of this story. This made my day ❤️❤️

[@brianarios8492]

I hate this poem so much that I love it. I hate how every single word that slips through those teeth fall into my lap like a dog begging for attention. I feel it in my skin and soaking into my veins those words that she speaks, I can relate to so much. I never knew I could love something I hate and instead of hate something I love.

[@esha8071]

Blythe is amazing💐

[@prettybabycela]

Yall know when you see Blythe its a MANDATORY WATCH

[@jessp6290]

Every. Single. Word. Of this! Wow!

[@PhoebeFayRuthLouise]

Blythe has written so many poems that are amazing! Astounding talent! I love this one - - the honesty about the pain! Hurts my heart for her, and for me because I relate to this so much, but there is joy at the same time for the beauty in the way she is able to express it all! Thank you, Blythe, for putting words to what I could not! Bless you!

[@elle8139]

Immensely talented. 💙

[@GGiblet]

Beautiful depiction of pain

[@quirkyblackenby]

This touches me personally because of a recent break up I had

[@aleksandrakapa]

OH MY GOD I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR THIS POEM FOR DAYS,I ONLY REMEMBERED THE LAST TO SENTENCES AND I FELL IN LOVE,I FINALLY FOUND IT THANK YOU!!!

[@representationmetaphorique]

I love her!!!!!

[@tiberiussugarplum9780]

Loving you is the kindest thing I almost did - wow... That really hurts

[@DelaneyB.444.77]

Phenomenal.♥️

[@awk-wordwriter7179]

Love Blythe.

[@emilystevenson378]

This poem is incredible! I relate to it so much it's insane. It perfectly describes my last relationship down to every tiny detail its almost like it came directly out of my head (that is if I had the poem writing skills of a GODDESS). Amazing, Blythe!

[@chloemeadows8346]

Powerful!

[@CNTBrah]

This is so so so amazing, i swear!! She's really good!!!

[@Lai-ny7wt]

There have been so many great lines in this performance that I don't know which one to quote but rather have her whole poem copied and pasted here if someone asks me which part was the best.... absolutely amazing

[@meluliss]

Ahhhh. This is way too much. So real. Too painful. Blythe, you are talented beyond description. Your poems, especially this one, tug at the strings that hold my heart in place and I feel it moving in my chest. Thank you for your raw honesty. That girl did not deserve you.

[@uniqueusername_]

I relate to this deeply, although with friendship instead of romantic relationships..

[@jkrcelic907]

She made me relate to her *and* her lover

[@dylanno6907]

This hit me hard but I love it 💖

[@DeFinoTwinz]

This was amazing

[@b.romanosanchez9967]

THIS IS AMAZING.

[@mia-jv2hu]

Blythe's poetry is so beautiful. By that I don't mean that it's glorified. I just mean that it's real and raw.

[@yuifunami1525]

I think she just broke my heart

[@angelica1887]

I LOVE BLYTHE

[@mirelyssosa1638]

I’m crying in the club right now

[@gayanimeweeb1305]

this ripped my hear out of my chest and threw it back at my face

[@lakeshagadson357]

this is a good poet that i want as a person

[@skelegirl1]

My new favorite! Blythe, you never cease to amazing me ❤❤❤ -biggest fan ❤❤