Ocean Vuong - Notebook Fragments

[@DarkShadows713]

I love how flustered they got the crowd started cheering them on at 2:56. What a sweetheart.

[@stephaniemcnugg9693]

"Shouldn't heaven be heavy by now?" I got the chills so badly I'm shivering

[@indo3052]

I dont get it lol

[@keyshawnscruggs803]

I know it’s been four weeks by now, but I believe that what Vuong meant is that, with the great number of people that have passed away, shouldn’t heaven be crowded?

[@indo3052]

@@keyshawnscruggs803 no, because people dont go to heaven after they die. They go to a dark place called sheol. Waiting on the resurrection day. Once the resurrection day comes, yahusha will resurrect them and judge them

[@hellh00und]

What a precious little flower this one is. This is wonderful.

[@andiecarroll8119]

Stunning. Simply incredible. So glad I didn't get too intimidated by the length of this video. Worth the watch.

[@saritalarasati1594]

Now it feels like 7 minutes aren't enough

[@xl7131]

What an amazing reader and great dramatist writer, his voice is so soft but as he reads it feels so loud and abrasive with passion and technique -- great poet.

[@MomoThePoet]

"Even sugar can scratch the throat, so stir the sugar well" just ruin me Ocean 😭 I'm screaming

[@lilbyte3]

You should read poets that make you center and still yourself in a profound emotion, not scream like a giddy reactionary.

[@seagamingseahaven]

Ocean seems to have found both rhythm and vocal volume, and accepts it beautifully, such a beautiful performance

[@zaboomafooba]

1) "maybe the rain is sweet because it falls through so much of the world.... Even sweetness can scratch the throat grandma said, so stir the sugar well." ... "thus my mother exists, thus I exist, thus no bombs equals no family, no me... Yikes." & "thus nourishment defined by extinction" .... "I think I love my mom very much." "I'm gonna lose it when Whitney Houston dies", "someone I was used to", "god must be a season, grandma said, looking out at the blizzard drowning her garden". 2) DAMN. damn. what do I do with myself after listening to this. 3) their attempts to regain composure right after the crowd cheered at the Kerouac line but the way they break into a grin again is the cutest thing I've seen today. that was so precious

[@arim-fs1671]

this is so easily one of the most soothing poems i have ever watched and i fall in love with it more everyday what a writer

[@samxs01]

The way they perform is so haunting, it really strikes into me

[@melissa6733]

I think this is my new favorite poem

[@dudloos]

D'aw, many feels. The 'bom' line is too real; my aunt asked me if I wanted to 'eat a bomb, because we have lots of "good ones" in the living room' to which I replied, 'I'm not sure.' Then she retreated to the altar and returned with an apple offering in hand. It took a moment for the French 'pomme' to kick in with the visual. Laughter ensued as I told her 'bom' sounded like explosives in English rather than Vietfied French, and my folks taught me the other word for apple in Viet, 'trai tao', is same same. Listening to Whitney Houston also helped my ma learn English, so right of passage may her soul rest in peace. Bless, Ocean.

[@lisk_ah]

i think i held my breath all the way through this poem and i still haven't found my lungs

[@hamohero]

His voice is so soothing

[@jilianjilianson7193]

This is the most beautiful poem I've ever heard

[@m4rie4nge]

he makes me feel so much. what a brilliant gem

[@napachick]

My mouth was hanging open the whole time. I don't remember how I found this channel but it's sooooo good

[@abbyescobar7201]

Did anyone else scream and have trouble breathing when they saw Button uploaded a 7(!!!!) minute long vid with Ocean.

[@errricdq]

That line about Jack Kerouac made me die laughing 😂 Love them.

[@CalvinPoet]

Guess Ocean’s jealous of Jack.

[@sivenathimkaza5070]

I love this poem way too much. I listen to it always. 😞😭

[@iris-dz5fc]

"how come depression makes me feel more alive"

[@sorereasons]

He's so amazing I need more of him in my life

[@allieinfinite5185]

Someday I'll love Ocean Vuong

[@adrianaguilar3840]

"if a guy tells you his favorite poet is jack kerouac, there's a very good chance he's a douche bag" word.

[@elisabeth7199]

Ocean Vuong writes in the Paris Review: "Pronouns like they/them are, to my trans friends and family, a refuge-a destination secured through flight and self-agency. They/them pronouns allow an interface where one can quickly code oneself as nonnormative, in the hopes of bypassing the pain and awkwardness of explanation or the labor of legibility when simply existing can be exhausting. Would I, by changing pronouns, appropriate myself into a space others need in order to survive? As a war refugee, I know how vital a foothold as small as a word can be. And since as a cis-presenting male, I don’t need to flee he-ness in order to be seen as myself, I will stay here. Can the walls of masculinity, set up so long ago through decrees of death and conquest, be breached, broken, recast-even healed? I am, in other words, invested in troubling he-ness. I want to complicate, expand, and change it by being inside it. And I am here for the very reasons why I feel, on bad days, I should leave it altogether: that I don’t recognize myself within its dominant ranks-but I believe it can grow to hold me better. Perhaps one day, masculinity might become so myriad, so malleable, it no longer needs a fixed border to recognize itself. It might not need to be itself at all. I wonder if that, too, is the queering of a space?"

[@rebeccasullivan170]

Dear God if you are a season let it be the one I pass through to get here.

[@delaneyrose9180]

Stream of consciousness poetry has never sounded so good. How have I never seen an Ocean poem before??

[@oonaghomalley9052]

THEY'RE SO CUTE AND SOFT SPOKEN AND TALENTED WHAT A BEAN

[@nhatanhtran8019]

his voice soothes me though his words are painful

[@MmeDelali]

I have no words other than amazing

[@witchkid83]

this gave me so many chills and I loved the style. I adore this.

[@lo373]

"Shouldn't heaven be super heavy by now?"

[@ananyadutta1154]

"I forgot his name by heart" -this poet is singing me to death.

[@justmemy1banana]

Dude I love his voice!

[@sunra23]

"note to self, if a guy tells you his fav poet is Jack Kerouac, there's a very good chance he's a douchebag" I just love his humor!!

[@Kyr1981]

Ocean is simply amazing!

[@misstiffins]

What a beautiful voice ❤️

[@CMcm428]

wow , i cant even deal such a lovely poem

[@nicolemyah_]

AHHH HES SO CUTE

[@canaryxblue]

god. wow. one of the very best.

[@NoorUnnahar]

LOVED THIS!!!!!

[@hannahm9592]

what a soft little angel oh my god?????????????

[@danielleradcliff5265]

""4:37 a.m 'how come depression makes me feel more alive'" 👌🏻

[@pommeblossom]

Yes to this.

[@rebeccasullivan170]

Love this!

[@shahadabdulaziz7339]

I LOVED IT.

[@dxmxo9427]

His voice unique

[@utuberhere]

Ocean's doing for poetry what Tiger Woods has done for golf. Before those two I had little interest in either.

[@008Invisibleman]

They're awesome :3

[@Charli17x]

incredible omg

[@nuhwe]

❤️

[@ryanmagiera4402]

killin it

[@pancakes88818]

AAAA OCEAN WITH A NOT 3 MINUTE VIDEO??

[@piinkperf]

|-/

[@LuckyLifeguard]

WOW!!!!!!

[@dellahw]

What do I do with myself now that I've something as magnificent as this? The use of repetition was everything..."good or bad?" ugh....😫

[@oniononsale9515]

This is a very stupid question for me to ask because I am naive as why people call they, they. Can someone please explain ?

[@lazydj30]

People use they pronouns if they're non binary. Like if they're gender fluid or agender etc

[@pghislain]

Just like that ...

[@sams4471]

wow

[@dxmxo9427]

Interesting

[@Sean-uv2di]

Now, I don't want to be that person... But, many of the people in the comments are saying "He". And you should know they use 'They' pronouns. So please respect their choice in this matter and use 'They, They're, Their, etc.'

[@abbyescobar7201]

I'm confused, on their website Ocean goes by "He/his/him" pronouns? I didn't know they personally specified their pronouns as otherwise. Do you know when/where they did?

[@taurusbabyyyy]

Really? I've seen Ocean's videos and they usually refer with the "he" pronouns. At least that's what descriptions always say.

[@skyepell4171]

His website says "him".

[@lo373]

He uses he/him. Identifies as male.

[@TheTerminalExpress]

"They" is plural, it signifies more than one person.

[@jesmens]

Their/His voice kinda reminds me of Garnet

[@sivenathimkaza5070]

I will probably lose it when you die 😩💔

[@MrsTonySoprano]

❤ The douchebag joke.

[@ArkEleven1]

"Trust fund baby pretends to be an irrating woman -- Wins international literary acclaim"