Myles Taylor – Poem Envisioning the Opposite of Violence

By Button Poetry

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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)

00:01
I chopped vegetables to fry and the
00:04
knife slices my finger I twist the cut
00:09
off like a wedding band and leave the
00:12
new formed ring on the side of the sink
00:16
the pan burns my hand and it washes off
00:20
with soap the meal goes into my stomach
00:24
and I do not regret it here every car
00:30
stops inches from last minute crosswalks
00:33
a person sees a different person on the
00:40
train and is filled with a steady joy i
00:45
legs touch on the seats and we cannot
00:48
imagine a reason to pull away the
00:52
operators can afford their rent the
00:55
tracks no no blood no one is sure what
01:01
blood looks like only that we all have
01:06
it therefore we are all very fond of it
01:10
here we take the shortest routes home at
01:14
night we pack flashlights but no blades
01:17
we do not consider our knuckles I peel
01:20
off the bruises on my knees after every
01:23
work shifts the burden in the driveway
01:26
is taking a nap
01:28
nothing dies here until it is ready my
01:32
uncle slipped down the stairs and the
01:34
carpet plushed up to catch him he was
01:39
never a violent man to begin with I do
01:42
not have to sit here contemplating
01:44
whether the death of a violent man is
01:46
more violence or less I do not have to
01:48
be the authority on violence to protect
01:51
myself here no one thinks I invented the
01:57
word trigger for fun no one knows what a
02:01
trigger is here because there are no
02:03
guns here I reach my love’s bed unser
02:08
and untier our body is form the shape of
02:12
the Y and yes and our mouths finished
02:14
the scent
02:14
yes and no our complete sentences no one
02:18
has ever left a fingerprint on either of
02:20
us the bird wakes up before us and sings
02:24
us into morning I stumble out to the
02:28
kitchen and find the thin red ring still
02:31
sitting on the counter I slip it on
02:36
because it is mine now all of my scars
02:42
are white pearl bracelets lining my
02:45
wrists they are mine now I dress myself
02:48
in everything that has happened to me I
02:51
can remove them at any time because they
02:53
are mine now my love comes out at the
02:56
smell of breakfast
02:58
neither of us feel too small to nourish
03:00
ourselves our bodies hold no evidence of
03:04
the night before we are never afraid
03:08
[Applause]
03:10
[Music]

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This post was previously published on YouTube.

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