November 11, 2013
Don’t Apologize
I met Abby M. at my show at Carnegie Mellon University. She shared this beautiful drawing that she had done of a line from B. Thanks, Abby!
November 10, 2013
My Heart
Today I got an email from a student in Germany who created this lovely embroidery of a line from “Worst Poetry.” Click the photos below to go to Julia H.’s website!
November 9, 2013
Today Michael H. sent me this:
“When my favorite author, Jonathan Carroll, posted this line from your poem, “An Origin Story,” as his status on 16 July, it spoke to me and to the feelings I have for the woman I love, who left me at the end of April after eight years together. I will never forget her. On the last day of July, I went into Scapegoat Tattoo in Portland, OR and made that vow permanent…”
I think this is the first time someone’s ever gotten a tattoo from a line of “An Origin Story.” In the actual poem we’re speaking specifically about platonic love, but this is such a beautiful (and heartbreaking) story that Michael shared in connection with it. I’m always amazed with the way people make poetry their own. (Plus, I love that our quote gets to hang out right below John Lennon!) Thanks for sharing, Michael.
November 6, 2013
Moon Type
Technically, this line isn’t mine. It’s from a children’s rhyme that I used to say when I was a kid. But for my poem “Astronaut” I made up a melody for it and altered the words a little. Roxanne Pasibe penned this beautiful text version of it for Behance. You can see the original source here.
November 4, 2013
Wave Watercolor
I’m not sure who made this, or where it’s from. This is one of the most quoted lines of my poetry, and I really like this particular envisioning of it. I especially like the way you can almost see through the page to what’s going on behind it.
October 6, 2013
Cosmic Sketch
I think this was drawn by someone named Christianna Strom, but I’m not sure. In any case, I really like it.
July 10, 2013
Daughter Dance
I’m not sure who the “Graffiti Dancers” are but they have a video of two dancers doing a performance to “B” that is quite beautiful. Click the image above to see the dance!
July 6, 2013
Universe Hands
Another set of universe hands. Not sure who the artist is.
June 26, 2013
Art Class
Susan Hubner writes:
“Hi Sarah, I am a Grade 11 Visual Arts teacher. A few of my students created art work based on “If I should have a daughter.” To give you the background, we had watched Shane Kocyzan’s spoken word “To this Day” which was illustrated by artists across the world. My students were excited by this and wanted to do something along the same line. So I got them to find their favourite songs, poetry etc. Each student presented them to the class and then the class voted for the top three. Yours was the top choice. So I then divided your poetry into different stanzas and the students choose the stanzas that they wanted to create a art piece from. They could choose any medium and then go with their inspiration.”
Check out Sue’s students’ wonderful work. I’ve included the lines of “B” that inspired each piece.
“I’m going to paint the solar systems on the backs of her hands…”
“You’re just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house, so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire…”
“Rain will wash away everything, if you let it…”
“I want her to look at the world through the underside of a glass-bottom boat…”
“I want her to look at the world through the underside of a glass-bottom boat…”
“There’ll be days like this, my mama said…”
“When you open your hands to catch, and wind up with only blisters and bruises…”
“There’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s swept away…”
April 12, 2013
Prezi Poem
Prezi is this fancy new alternative to the traditional power point. I haven’t fully investigated it yet since I don’t usually use visual aids during my presentations, but it seems like there is a lot of potential for creativity, which is neat. Recently, prezi had a competition which involved folks creating a presentation in coordination with a TEDtalk. Someone made this really awesome one from mine! Click the image to see it in full.
April 10, 2013
Raffles Girls School
Today Phil and I visited Raffles Girls School in Singapore and were overwhelmed with gifts. So many letters and drawings and packages! I couldn’t scan all of them, but these were some of my favorite. The top is a folder that a bunch of girls made for me, taken from a line of “Postcards.” The second is a drawing by Hu Jun Yi which is exciting because I’ve never been an anime character before. The bottom two are both by Sophia Kim Chi, and I love them. I especially love how creepy the one without faces is, and how accurate the hair is. The line that is quoted is from our duet poem, “An Origin Story.” Plus, a personalized Pokemon cartoon? Too cool. (Although in real life, I’m the same height as Phil, despite my Pokemon avatar’s diminutive size!)
April 1, 2013
Poem Quilt
Noelia A. writes:
“Mi name is Noelia, I´m from Argentina and I´m a huge fan or your work. I found you, like many others, through TED talks. Your poem, Point B, moved me so much. I probably listened to it around 40 times. I had never listened spoken poetry before. Your talk woke up an interest I didn´t think I could ever have. I´m a crafter, mainly a quilter, I work with my hands an create objects but I´m not very good with words. With the melody of your poem in my head, I thought I could use the words to make a quilt. Essentially, the words are what make the quilt (the quilting itself, what keeps all the layers together. I chose some of the lines of the poem, not all of it and fee-hand quilted them over a piece of linen) and then added the rainbow embroidery, which is to my quilt what the melody is to your poem.”
What an absolutely beautiful quilt. Click the image above to get a better look at Noelia’s beautiful craftsmanship.