Sarah Kay - Unreliable

[@buyiswamsika1304]

I haven't been watching poetry for a while but just seeing Sarah on the thumbnail I clicked even before I thought about it because the women never disappoints

[@tineputzeys]

I think we all set a new click speed record when we see Sarah in a thumbnail

[@samvancook]

Faaaaaacts

[@marhabafatima]

Sameeeeeeee

[@jordanlebon-ct4lt]

shes a nar-c who should try to heal her very deep wounds shes not aware of(im a healer)

[@tcsalary8116]

Same

[@ThatMakesSenseToMe]

“You trace your finger along the constellation I’m insisting into existence.” DAMN I love this poet

[@hallepreneta4975]

"What if who you are is boring and alive? What will you do then?" as a person with depression and suicidal thoughts, this line hit hard. Sarah Kay is truly amazing, I'm inspired by her with every poem.

[@samvancook]

Close to home!

[@BipolarSunshine05]

I totally agree

[@suthasivaca]

That line also hit me hardest because I'm also going through the same things. I love her poems.

[@fedepa3]

"i thought I wanted a boyfriend when I actually wanted an audience" oh

[@riotrose955]

Never related to something more

[@samvancook]

Wow!

[@horsecrazy2266]

RIGHT

[@AbioyeMO.]

This is so beautiful. "Slip a piece of me into the pocket of everyone I love. I hope it doesn't sour when I am away"

[@user-HidingMySuccessandFame]

Grew up listening to poets like Sarah Kay before I was even considered a man and now her poetry reminds me how beautiful some moments in my life truly were back in simpler days. toothbrush to the bicycle tire is another good poem by her.

[@rangercynth]

It’s been almost a decade since I’ve discovered her and somehow I still relate to her poetry

[@mycotinafulica8896]

I miss her 😭

[@oliver-violet9381]

same

[@crieverytim]

.... she's alive and well

[@crieverytim]

And she's back

[@mia-saraking5479]

oh i love her. she's what spring boarded me into spoken word and free verse poetry. and the presence and emotion in her performance is what i one day hope to be able to convey

[@ellalukowiak3067]

same here with me. I love her so much my heart may implode

[@siyabongabaloyi]

It will take us a good few years for us to clearly understand all the metaphors in this😭

[@martinengelbrecht5384]

Thank you, you are making me feel clever.

[@rhythmicanthem1032]

I always feel like my life uncovers the metaphors in her poetry. Something will happen in my life and all of a sudden a line from her poetry will pop up. Il go watch the poem and suddenly i have a deeper understanding of what she meant. And yes, sometimes it takes years. 🌻

[@mysticmoth1111]

And when you do understand it will hit you so much harder

[@ebonyl9312]

"What if you aren't as bad as you suspect you are? What if you will never be as good as you ache?"

[@inidaonedance]

“And then, softer, in the kind of whisper that wouldn’t even fog the glass” the imagery how dare u Ms. Sarah Kay😭

[@tinytina8451]

beautifully written; "What if you aren't as bad as you suspect you are"

[@ButtonPoetry]

Sarah sure has "beautifully written" down, doesn't she?

[@osmundmillion3299]

I fell in love with Sarah Kay's Poetry

[@keynawardlow4367]

ever since she did “when love arrives”

[@Mazzieisme]

Some days, boring and alive are enough. You are enough. I adore Sarah Kay's poems 💕

[@ButtonPoetry]

TY!

[@martinengelbrecht5384]

One of the most amazing spoken poets of the 21st century! She plays on the guitar strings of my heart, I don't understand everything said, but what I do, draws a tear to the side of my eye, I know someone gets me! Across the ocean is my double, a mind which rushes this way and that! Leaping off cliffs without thought!

[@ButtonPoetry]

Well said! But why stop at the 21st century???

[@deIcorazon]

her voice omg i love her 😢

[@Pheelyp]

Where is my prize for most unreliable narrator? I would never lie to you but I lie to me all the time. I say, "Look at that bird. This childhood memory That light falling across his body in the steam" and say "BOOM", a stone truth, a poem. And you trust me. You trace your finger along the constellation I'm insisting into existence, and allow my rickety astrology to determine the weather. But this is all dominos. I am just trying to place enough words between now and the end to trick the end into coming later. I slip single doses of myself into the pockets of everyone I love Worried about serving sizes, hoping they do not sour when I'm gone. I spent 32 years in New York City, and every metaphor is stacked with taxi cabs and subways. I spent two weeks in the woods and suddenly every poem swelled with rhododendrons and the smell of firewood. I am the most porous sponge that ever sponged. I throw myself off every emotional cliff and build a pogo stick on the way down. I am not an optimist but I play one in the groupchat. I don't know who I think I need absolution from but I carry around a shiny report card everywhere I go just in case. I thought I wanted a boyfriend but I actually wanted an audience. My father carried dried mushrooms from the market to the wood table on the front porch so he could watch the way the late afternoon sun made patterns on their crackled skin He called my mother out of the house so she could stand next to him and look at it too. They were both so excited they forgot to close the screen door and the bugs made a home of the kitchen. I have never accomplished anything in my life other than the seven-mile run to the lighthouse. This land - someone else's. This language - someone else's. Even the churning fear that pours out of me - an inheritance. Or, if not an inheritance, then a reaction A riverbank formed out of a rushing past I had nothing to do with. I make a phone call, and when you don't pick up, the whole house falls down around me. I am the center of my own dramatic universe and it appalls me. In my dream, from somewhere down a hallway of locked doors, a voice asks: "What if you aren't as bad as you suspect you are? "What if you will never be as good as you ache?" And then, softer, in the kind of whisper that wouldn't even fog the glass, "What if what you are is boring and alive? What are you going to do then?"

[@fairycars]

i just love her performances so much. i have her book and reading them is not the same as watching and listening to them

[@DIEGOalmanza100]

Sarah is back and she's cooler than ever🥰🥰

[@ifcoltransg2]

Everyone's talking about the fact the words and images are so beautiful, here's me thinking "she mentioned a screen door, oh my god, I bet it's the same one with the racoon!"

[@cherryrosegayonan2003]

I missed something new from Sarah and this came omg😍

[@paupau8043]

This poem is so beautiful. I know we all take different explanations of what this piece is but I felt the sense of identity crisis. As a writer, I think I put myself into different worlds I created and sometimes my pieces don't reflect the real me. This poem made me think of that. "This land, someone else's This language, someone else's"

[@KaryShwas]

Unreliable is everything in life, right? Except for death once we're born?! This is breathtakingly beautiful!!

[@karinamotilev9645]

I missed her so much!!🥺yasssss

[@sherrymontiveles6257]

2 years apart and still love this poem as much as the 1st time i listened to it.

[@ButtonPoetry]

Equally obsessed :)

[@klee4842]

She's my favorite. I fell in love with spoken poetry because of her. Thank you Sarah. ✨

[@celesteflatland4218]

please never stop posting sarah content, i’ll always subscribe if she’s here

[@shazvaughan7402]

You are one amazing person brilliant your mind words you truly touched my soul oh wow stunning

[@ButtonPoetry]

Such kind words ❤️

[@yourweirdbanana]

Naiiyak ako!!! Ang ganda!!! Walang kupas!!! I love U Sarah! Love from the Philippines, as always!!!

[@destinyheath6583]

I missed Sarah!! I love her poetry so much!

[@bellasgonemissing9705]

love the way she performs

[@KENFINITY_3K]

Ummmmm, I love her? 🙏🏾💜😁 her oratory prowess is uncanny - 2nd poem in and I’m entranced 😵‍💫🥰

[@memesxdplaylistpolice9427]

This is genuinely one of my favourite poems of all time

[@Stlwartheart14]

This is so meta, love this one

[@Geal_films]

Sarah Kay - my happy place 💞

[@Kamekami27]

I love her poems so much! 🥰🥰

[@Isabelle-ud2df]

she literally never disappoints

[@peachynicky1609]

Yohhhh this is the most beautiful thing I have heard in so long !!!

[@ChidimmaRita-k4j]

Sarah Kay is amazingly inspirational ❤️ her lines are cozy and relaxing

[@winnieahabwe2753]

"kind of whisper that wouldn't even fog the glass"🌟

[@deepanshu564]

SARA'S BACK with a reminder

[@JoyMoreira]

Sarah Kay nevers ceases to amaze me.

[@mysticmoth1111]

I love every second of it.

[@Raphael_NYC]

Beyond Amazing. Thank you Sarah. Truly inspiratioinal

[@suchita.senthilkumar]

I love this poem

[@raratey]

This one hits different. I hear the same feelings I have of impostor syndrome, existential crises, and a desire for purpose. Wow Sarah Kay 👏👏👏

[@kathybramley5609]

Had to avoid commenting for a moment to brim & sniff but what I was going to say was to imitate a lot of cheesy-honest comments, a trope if you will: I am a simple person, I see Sarah Kay, I click.

[@kathybramley5609]

There were layers not thought of originally that work validly there. There is more to say about the poem & performance but I don't know what to pick out of the many thoughts or whether just to let it ramble. I think Sarah is being too hard on herself - but that is hackneyed 'nice person' commentary that I don't always believe for that reason. And feeling itartifice

[@kathybramley5609]

Reply might might be wildly inappropriate in this PS and in context but since gender, politics and selfhood are to some degree given an analogue in art and vice versa, let's stop a moment to appreciate the heavy-unheavy bravado of the teen who said 'I may look like a boy but I'm all pussy!' at her first slam!

[@kathybramley5609]

Did I remember that right?

[@kathybramley5609]

Sarah talked about finding identity through poetry in that presentation, and the netflix thing, and in that or others others maybe talking about her work with young people, so far more or less worked for her (has it?), maybe this is "just" another complex eddy and evaluation!? Necessary and good biofeedback but not the whole story? Not just, 'wait I'ma good person, aren't I?' but proper reflective evaluations showing how it's done as well as the costs or pitfalls. Your authentic identity is not the same as your highlighted zuzzed-up memory as reflected in your poems and self-narrative otherwise, nor your memory for saying all the right things or knowing your place. Respect and compassion and humanity can be emotionally correct and messy. But then that might be a Karen thing of me to say, but I'm not here to get too tense about it. It's mindfully picking that social orientation to justice, beauty, truth, feeling good and not being too much hard work for the oppressed to deal with, right?

[@kathybramley5609]

ehh sorry

[@allegracardamone2181]

Sarah kay never disappoints

[@coconat.natreads]

Beautiful...

[@adordionisiolynnjulia7228]

finally, sarah kay is back 😭😭

[@MahmoudIsmail1988.]

finally, real poetry stands out amidsta pretentious self-indulgent tradition!! a superlative stirring peice of which I am abysmally envious.. my sincerest salutations..

[@vickednesss]

i love her poems so much 💚

[@alicesouza508]

yeaaaaaa i feel u, love that

[@cheershiii965]

Sarag is so so so good. Wow

[@harshitasehgal8283]

OMG I SCREAMED HAVE U WATCHED THE MOVIE LIFE ITSELF CAUSE THIS WHOLE CONCEPT IS DISCUSSED IN THE MOVIE AND I FUCKING LOVE SARAH KAY

[@Lenonymous]

Love all Sarah's stuff, but, man, do those last three bits with the voice hit home in a way only be evicted from the same place might. Masterful.

[@suraiyapatel8173]

This is just so good ✨

[@tiaraulfah8560]

ah her poems got me everytime!

[@oliver-violet9381]

i loved this. thank you

[@sthaConsultancy]

Always beautiful ❤️

[@pearlythobz]

I see Sarah, i click.

[@powderloca]

Great!

[@sarahwachira1454]

Good poem 👌👌👌 from the best poet ever... I hope one day I am going to meet you dia🙏🔥🔥

[@c13bubbles]

I think this should be in the type description for a 4 on the enneagram institute

[@Smileyamy817]

yooo that is me

[@learnwithalvin7327]

The dominoes line is really accurate.. spot on imagery there

[@shawnellemartineaux6212]

I thought "The Type" resonated, but this. Sarah.

[@PhilosopherThom]

I hope she comes back

[@hanysabel1847]

This is so good

[@DaraMawar]

I'M INSISTING INTO EXISTING 🔥

[@AtcVoide]

"Slip doses into the pockets of everyone she loves," she loves her audience.

[@yukakenne]

Does anyone want to share interpretations or reflections?

[@stef4535]

I would love to! On first watch, this poems feels like a collage, small peaks into her life at snapshot moments. Seemingly sort of random and yet all connected in the emotion, the insecurity. I took it as a reflection of when you don't feel like you are enough, and especially interesting enough. Playing up stories, exaggerating what you think gives you worth, and all the while still feeling like you've done nothing because it should be more to count. But I am unsure if the conclusion leaves us without an answer or if it beckons us to answer the what if? Perhaps with a "so what". I'm unsure to be honest.

[@LiquidDiamondFlute]

I'll try to summarize the emotions I understood from it. I understood it as someone questioning their ability to contribute something unique to the world, wondering if they have made a lasting/significant enough impact on the world, not believing in their own worth/ability enough, suffering from imposter syndrome, feeling the need to prove themself while wanting very much to be a good person, reflecting on and feeling bad for having strong emotions/reactions to "small picture" things in their life that are seemingly insignificant given the "big picture" view of things, beating themself up about all that but starting to come to terms with the idea that not being a super hero doesn't automatically make one a villain and that they might have unrealistic expectations for themselves, feeling pain about not being satisfied with how they're living their life, and wanting to live a fuller more accomplished life but being unsure of or scared about doing new/different things to make that happen. I do hope that Sarah isn't being THAT hard on herself. There's only one her and the way she weaves together her perspectives of reality is truly meaningful and impactful. Even if the wisdom/insights shared through them can be considered just a passing down of something and not a new creation, the ability to pass it down is--I think--one of the most important skills for changing the world. If humans could pass down those things genetically then society would be in a much better place, but we can't so to make it better it takes people like Sarah who are good at sharing their insights to help people see/understand the web of realities that do/can exist and that they have the power to shape realities in impactful ways too.

[@ujjainiroy5126]

We all are super sponges, absorbing all we are surrounded by, often blowing them out of proportion, just to fill in the unending space between us and the feeling of being interestingly alive. We push ourselves in every possible little pocket and call those 'lifetime experiences'. We all are just there, hanging on perilously to the precipice of making life look larger than it really is. It's a sad rendition, so full of honesty. It's confession at its best.

[@yukakenne]

@@stef4535 Thank you for your thoughtful words. I listened to the poem a few more times and each time I agree more with you. She wants to convince us that she can not be trusted, because everything she says is made up, or exaggerated. I am still wondering what the meaning or the function of the story about the mushrooms is. Is she jealous of her parents who can enjoy something simple like drying mushrooms? Is she afraid that something so beautiful will never be enough for her? Or am I completely wrong and is this a story that looks interesting in her poem, but was meaningless in her own life? However, this feeling of being fake is familiar with me. I would want to say to her that she ís special and that she ís enough. She may not believe it and that is what makes her so heartbreakingly human. I will not pretend I can answer your question about the conclusion, but I can give you my thoughts. She thinks that she is neither of those persons: neither is she a deceitful liar nor a very special poet. She is boring and alive. That reminds me of the feeling I have when i look at the stars: we are all so meaningless that being good or bad is negligible. What are you going to do then? Continue writing poems and caring a little less about those lies. To me, Sarah Kay is everything but negligible by the way.

[@stef4535]

@@yukakenne I love that, boring and alive. Wonderful point about the mushroom story, I like the thought that it could be a very example of her exaggerating. I think the "what are you going to do now" is starting to take better form now. Thank you for your thoughts and response.

[@nelisamkhwanazi1051]

"I thought I wanted a boyfriend but I actually wanted an audience" ❤

[@rempuiii1716]

❤

[@extra9079]

💗💗💗

[@user-pd9fe1vx3i]

Yest tf ma'am!!!

[@shelbyh7026]

THE ENDING OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD

[@ancientbeings653]

“What if you are boring and alive? What will you do then?” Same exact fear 😭 What if this is it?

[@mahoro5437]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@lilyann7938]

wow

[@michealtorres8598]

Feeling everything ...all the time Makes the worse things worser as the curse gets curser Shouts fill the pores in my face and the hurt sweaters me every single place.... I feel the looks at me and at each other i feel moms telling kids stop touching each other I feel every thought about one another I feel good and envy and hell and love I feel bad and the people glad when youre sad... I feel harboured emotions i feel scorn i feel glances I feel the voids and the nothings noone romances. I feel all the weight the tons the tons I feel heavy in the moods that muck up in dust fuck. I feel all the horror and the gloomy day dances i feel the murmurs i feel the glances...

[@aarjupoudel9986]

❤️

[@lakeshagadson357]

I've seen her before she good

[@kasamearth1]

Wow

[@sisterimprov]

I feel so wildly seen right now that it's actually uncomfortable. Incredible.

[@ButtonPoetry]

Man that is the feeling in a nutshell. Well said!

[@inidaonedance]

“I am the most porous sponge that ever sponged.”

[@labronrobinson3656]

Very inspiring and very honest.

[@moss-the-fae]

"From somewhere down a hallway of locked doors, a voice asks, 'What if you aren't as bad as you suspect you are?'"

[@moss-the-fae]

"I slip single doses of myself into the pockets of everyone I love. Worried about serving sizes, hoping they do not sour once I'm gone."

[@YourPersonalHacks]

Is this a new performance? She still performs??

[@ButtonPoetry]

Sure does. She has a show in LA this weekend I believe.

[@YourPersonalHacks]

@@ButtonPoetry Do you know how I can find her upcoming performances?

[@yuwiuee]

I miss her

[@ChocoWest1]

Wonderful but my favorite poem from her is “If I should have a daughter”- if you’re interested in her check it out on KZbin. ❤

[@bonosigudu279]

God! Girl I -🤯🤯 (no need to drag me like this🥹❤️)

[@curtisxmeyer4819]

10.

[@ButtonPoetry]

Nice to 'see' you Curtis! Hope you are well!

[@96Aarushi]

Can someone please explain me this poem? 😅

[@erichweese4925]

😍😍😍😍😍

[@jonathantrauner3742]

SOVEREIGN // In the face of destruction and warzone wreckage, we are mighty and sovereign. Oppressiveness and evil cannot triumph. // In the face of obstacles and the worst struggles, we are all indestructible and indomitable. Destruction cannot kill us. // Whenever evil violence and bloodshed occurs, shower our humanity with love kindness and hope. Love destroys hate. // Whenever we go through setbacks and roadblocks, we must always remember that love overcomes. We are triumphant. // Know that we are humanitarians and impactful difference makers. Heal as lifesavers for people who are suffering. // To destroy destruction and war, we must demonstrate love kindness compassion empathy courage justice joy and hope. // To annihilate destruction and war, we must all realize we are all united and unified by love. Love is always the way. // We must lead with valor inside of our hearts. Extinguishing oppression and discrimination entails ruling out of love. // For our future generations planet Earth and our human race, we will not give up. Rule through kindness and love eternally. // Emerge into superheroes tomorrow as we protect who and what we lovingly hold dear. We are all omnipotent and sovereign monarchs, ready to triumph. RIP Queen Elizabeth III

[@lunadelmar3396]

i cant believe her parents named her sarah kay

[@somebody-xu4mz]

Oh ny gosh

[@jesus_isourcreator5734]

Hey you, Jesus is real! He loves you and died for you. You are never too far gone to accept Him in your heart! :) Have a good day!!💝

[@veronicajenislawski1426]

what if what you are is boring wow