The Poety of Taylor Mali
The usual study of poetry, as I was exposed to it, revolved around Shakespeare and iambic pentameter. To this day I can’t tell you which words are stressed and unstressed, but I can read a line or two well by mimicking Kenneth Branagh’s stunning performance of Hamlet. As an actor, he surpasses many in talent, and yet is so little known. Any actor who can go from being a master of Shakespeare to Dr. Loveless in Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West” is an actor who wins my highest praises.
But let’s focus on poetry.
To dissect poetry is to spend longer on it than is needful. I’m not interested with how many feet a poem includes unless, of course, it to to rise from my desk and walk across the room to fetch me a glass of wine. It’s not important to me. What is important about poetry is the depth and power a poem can have when relating a message in the simplest, and yet dramatic and descriptive, manner.
Enter performance poetry.
What better work of literature to capture to heart of someone like me than that work composed to express its message quickly, powerfully, and aggressively? None!
Introducing Taylor Mali.
Through the wonder of YouTube, I came across a video posted of Taylor Mali performing “What Teachers Make” and instantly knew that I had found a brand of poetry that even I, who grumbles whenever the subject is taught scholastically, could love. His poetry is no less and art than the compositions of Shakespeare. In fact, they are arguably more powerful in that they are more direct.
I invite you to experience Mali for yourselves. His website is http://www.taylormali.com/
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