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Ilyus Evander, performing their poem “Alexander’s Hands”.
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Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.
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.
Transcript provided by YouTube (unedited)
0:01
my mother named me Alexander a name that
0:09
writes itself great from an inkwell full
0:15
of blood a name that means defend by way
0:20
of death and blood my mother is my blood
0:24
mother my mother named me blood when I
0:30
say I am trans
0:31
I mean a transformation renamed myself
0:36
Elias
0:38
it means the love of God and that too is
0:42
blood but bleeds more like before I was
0:46
this body I was half a prayer before I
0:51
was this body I was just its hand just
0:55
the push and pull the squeeze and
0:59
release when I say trans I mean just
1:02
some shadow puppet wall magic just a
1:06
moonstone witches shape-shifting wish
1:08
when I say trans I mean the gamblers
1:12
grip around the blood dice isn’t every
1:15
move I make a game of Risk watch the
1:20
bird fly when I win watch the bird break
1:24
her own beak when I don’t when I say I
1:27
am trans I mean a transfusion just a
1:33
little blood drawn from the hand how
1:37
I’ve always been
1:38
that give and take to give and take but
1:42
really just to give and make it look a
1:45
whole lot like taking when I say trans I
1:49
mean I’ve always been working to give
1:53
you everything just so I don’t have to
1:59
give you me so maybe my name can stay
2:06
blood
2:09
and I won’t have to bleed
2:18
you
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This post was previously published on YouTube.
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