Inspiring Performance Poem

Pretty - Katie Makkai This poem is extremely powerful, and speaks to me more than most poems. It is powerful in the way it is performed by the writer, Katie Makkai, along with the message it presents. Although this is "slam poetry", (performed in front of a judge) the message is still very strong. Makkai uses all sorts of poetry forms in this specific piece of work. She repeats the question "will I be pretty" numerous times. Then at the end explains that there is no such thing as JUST pretty. I enjoyed this poem a lot due to the repetition, it actually gets stuck in my head like a catchy song on the radio. I discovered this page, ironically, on my mother's facebook page and automatically fell in love with it. I have been trying to write more poems that are similar in emotion and urgency to get a message across to the world. Issues such as global warming, obesity, and violence have been coming out in my work and I really like what I have come up with. I feel as though this specific performance poem has woken my muse up and it will not go back to sleep. It's about time!!! Sadly, Makkai doesn't have a collection of her works that I could use to show how I am influenced by her work. That is why I am sharing this on the blog. I feel as though every one should listen to and watch this video, and then go off to find what other inspiring performance poems are out there on YouTube and other sites.