Ken Arkind - God Box
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
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Ken Arkind, performing at CUPSI 2014 in Boulder, CO.
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"It's been a long time since that last miracle and your boy? He doesn't count, we just took advantage of him. I mean, just imagine if you would of sent us a daughter."
Wow...
The silence at the end. Just leaves you with so many thoughts and so many feels
"If we were created in your image , then how can you stand the sight of yourself?" This is a question I ask a lot.
Um... Wow. I really expected this to be another poem about how God doesn't exist... Somehow, in it's use of simple observations, wishes, and prayers, and ending with a promise from the Word itself... It's so much more frightening. I love it.
WOW!! When I first listened I thought it was him calling to God at the end...but the last part is a passage from Proverbs, it is God yelling 'Because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hands and no man regarded...THEY SHALL CALL UPON ME BUT I WILL NOT ANSWER...are you listening...can you hear me?' It is God wondering if we are listening to him, because by the sounds of all the demands/prayers it doesn't sound like we have listened to him at all. This poem.....
i still think it's him calling to god. that passage from proverbs is supposed to be god yelling but if he meant it to be god calling back at the end asking if we can hear him, i don't think the line "But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:" would have been cut out of it. *shrugs*
+florastiel I think it is more powerful if it is him yelling at God for just what He claims is our failing.
This is still one of my favorite poems of all time.
"How many Mirrors have you broken"
God damn
Still the most powerful spoken word performance I’ve ever seen...
If ever there was a poem that represented the Book of Job
Word
Nah Job was far too one sided for this analogy. This poem talks about the hypocrisy and evil of God, but also people. God just really fucked Job over, Job didn't deserve any of it. In this poem a lot of the death and destruction that is imposed upon us is just in the eyes of the lord (according to the poem referencing Proverbs 1). Regardless the poem is fucking stunning, and makes me cry every time.
I love the poem in its entirety but I love how at the end, the screaming questions signify he may just be screaming at nothing. I love it.
+Sunny Lee Yes, read the Bible.
When he said "if we were created based on your image then how can you look at yourself?" I just got chills. This is by far my favorite poem...ever. It just speaks to you on so many levels...you can't even explain it.
Those echos though.
8 years on and I still come back to this poem. I believe this to be a modern classic of slam poetry
Oh damn. Ken arkind. I totally agree about this piece. Have you heard his poem "An Experiment in Noise in A# Major"? I think it is another modern classic as well.
@@ButtonPoetry Just gave this one a listen and oh man, it's fucking good. Thank you for pointing it out to me!
Those echoes were spine-chilling
*applauds* I'm left speechless
This is so strong..
"It's not that we mean to be selfish, it's just that we are".
"It's been a long time since that last miracle, and your boy, he doesn't count. We just took advantage of him. I mean, just imagine if you had sent us a daughter." Wow! This is seriously incredible. There is just so much....
That was just... Powerful. Every time I watch this, I feel the anger, pain and angst inside of him. His delivery of the message an poem is amazing.
That book in his hand, that book right there. Go buy it. Penmanship books. Its worth every cent.
I come back every year to watch this. It’s the only thing that can make me cry. I think I’m broken.
Right on Anthony. Ken is one of my all time favorites and this poem is truly a heartbreaker and healer.
This is my favorite poem. I come back every year.
holy shit. one of the gnarliest poems ive ever heard
This is such a powerful poem, it really brings about the questions and thoughts that resonate in my mind and exposes the truth of humanity. One of my favourites so far!
This is holy powerful, holy shit.
this is probably the only poem that makes me cry every single time I hear it
And when he says "are you listening? Can you hear me?" in the version of two years ago afterwards he said "Are you even there?" And that, that was hard.
if you could update everyday my life would be complete
This needs to go viral...
This poem has gotten me through so much for so long. It's always relevent.
Always loved this so glad he's finally getting recognition. Y'all should watch the original.
+Figs3 the original one? which one is it?
+jof410 I really mean the first video of this poem that was posted from four years ago. It's on UA-cam.
oh yeah I think I watched that one :)
brings tears to my eyes
It's been so long since I added this to one of my lists. I decided to go through them. It still makes me cry.
To this day, I cry to this piece.
"If we are created in your image then how can you stand the site of yourself?" Wow, just one of the many breathtaking lines in this poem. The echoes were so haunting near the end. Thank you for taking me to this place in my emotions.....it was SO good!
I watched this yesterday, and I keep coming back.
strong and beautiful words
God helps those who help themselves. Before you conclude that he has turned his back on you, make sure you have not given up on yourself. Very powerful poem.
"God helps those who help themselves" is found no where in scripture. no. where. God helps those you can't help themselves, God helps those who have gotten to the end up their rope and can't go any further. God helps those who know they need help and know they can't do anything with out God. There is absolutely nothing in this world we can do to deserve Gods love and grace, to deserve the salvation HE so freely gave on that cross. Rom 10:13
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
God helps those who call upon his name. His name is, Jesus, He has proven Himself worthy. He is our only hope. Its time to give up on oneself and turn to God.
ArmenianMan You know that statement means he does absolutely nothing right? People who help themselves DON'T NEED HELP
GOD helps EVERYONE, in different ways maybe & at different times but he does!
Obviously not enough in most cases. I dont mean to be such a cynic but it's hard to tell people that God helps everyone when there are kids starving to death right now.
God didn't promise us a perfect life the one we're all trying to have, but he promised that we will get through it with strong faith& believing that he will help you no matter what and that tomorrow or maybe the day after would be alot better and mostly believing that this life is not everything and that death is not the end it's just the beginning of an entirely new life ,that would either be a reward or a punishment aka heaven and hell which is freaking terrifying tbh, I'm sorry if I went off track and I don't know if what I said many any sense but what I'm trying to say here that this life mostly isn't perfect in any kind of way it has its ups and downs....and what you said about the kids starving I think we people are the ones to blame not god he occasionally helps them directly with maybe a little rain or some sort of prey but you know what, god also told us to help each other therefore in an indirect way he is helping them through us!
Absolutely amazing.
Wow! Loved this! His voice alone is amazing!
Dude this is a masterpiece.
wow. so glad i didnt skip over this one. amazing
Chills all over
I was fine until he said "Can you hear me?" Then everything hit me and I started bawling.
Oh my goodness. I love this so much.
MY GOODNESS!!! Thank you BP, I've been looking for this piece!
Absolutely amazing
Greatest thing i ever heard. My song at the end word for word. Thank you sir.
Whoa. The end had shivers going down my spine. This was powerful.
Yes, he is. He is listening, to every rant and rave, every one we send up. We just need to listen for the replies.
I was searching for a beautiful comment like this in the comment section. :-)
Or we can stand up and actually do something, instead of waiting on it to happen.
Of course we can. Prayer often has the effect of helping us center our thoughts and focus on the goal.
Prayer has the effect of people waiting for god to do something instead of doing it.
Prayer is humbling yourself.
I LOVE THIS.
For real, that was great. Sounds like some honest stuff right there
I'm broken. This poem and the way it was read, broke me. Crying and shaking. FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK!!!!!
God I love Ken
ever since I saw it at NPS 2010, one of my favorite slam poems. ever.
#standardshit #classic
Powerful.
Amazing
This one hit home. Tears started to flow rather quickly.
Dayuum
that was amazing
Oh my God! That was Intense..
just wow.
Holy...
Agreed and Amazing 😆
i felt that...
God always hears. 😌
God always answers, but sometimes the answer is No.
Why would he ever refuse to help someone?
God is a douche.
WiredPyro
He does not refuse to help, the answer is often no because of the fact that what you are wanting is either selfish or it is not in His plan.
Like wanting food for your family is selfish right?
If everything in the entire universe goes according to some supreme beings big cosmic plan, there is no such thing as "freewill". You can't go around thanking God for all of the good things, and then blame humans for all of the bad shit. (Besides, if you read the bible especially the old testament, it's full of God either doing or commanding others to do a bunch of immoral, evil, sick and twisted shit.) What about natural disasters? Diseases? Are those things in Gods plan? If so, why would the plan of an all loving, merciful, all perfect, and all knowing supreme being have a PLAN that requires the deaths of millions of innocent children?
Interesting perspective
holy shit, i cant even.
Where there snapping cows in the audience cause all I heard was like "Moooo " * finger snaps *
Can you make this wheelchair feel like my father's shoulders. DAMNNNN
Boom! beautiful
shit. that was amazing
Damn
DAMN…ILTS
I know this may sound stupid, but when he said 'they should call upon me but I will not answer' what did he mean? was he referring to God, like God wouldnt answer to people or was he referring to people that wouldnt listen to God? What did he mean in that last part?
He is saying the people have called for god but he will not answer
amber is wrong, ken was referring to himself losing faith in humanity and refusing to help them when they are in need, and then looks to see if god will smite him, and then asks if he is even listening, and then there is no reply.
crazymusicman13 Actually you are wrong. He was referring to a Bible passage. It is about God refusing to answer humans due to their disobedience. Proverbs 1:26-28
you are right! here is the passage "I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you-
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me,"
MisizToni although reading through the passage, I think wisdom personified was making the "i" statements, and those that do not listen to wisdom will be left to make their own foolish decisions and suffer the consequences because wisdom is washing her hands clean of men.
"can you hear me?"
@Gohar It's a bible verse
I apologise for maybe sounding ignorant, but I don't understand this poem. Could someone explain it to me?
A quick overview of the poem would be to say that it is a culmination of prayers to God and a reflection on humanity and of the attitudes human beings have towards God as well. Sorta. Hope that helps?
Could anyone tell me the poet's name?
Bumboclaat.
Loool
I will Not Answer, I will Not Answer , I will Not Answer....are you Listening?....Can you Hear Me?
somebody .. this shit was really deep, please explain it ... I beg you
God neglects everyone's prayers because some peopel are selfish. In this poem there are pairs of prayers, always selfish paired with selfless or asking for rest. A man asks for his son to not be gay, while a woman asks for her husband to be happy so he won't abuse her. Someone asks for Kanye West to stop doing stupid things while another asks that parent's who kill their children get justice.
The long last part is quoted from the Bible. It is God speaking to humanity saying why he doesn't help them. He says it's becasue so many turn from him or don't follow properly. For this the poet is left alone and sad at the end for mistakes other peopel have made.
Geez, he sure does hate God maybe if he wasn't yelling he could hear God's reply to him.
I don't think its hate, more like frustration. And even when he rebukes God at the end he's still waiting for an answer
Keep in mind he was reading off the things that people would send him.
Humans got a lot of reasons to be mad many have lives full of pain that they take to the grave
WiredPyro Ok , I think I misinterpreted it, thank you
Sassy Chimpanzee Ok thank you, I majorly misinterpreted it then.
Mmmm
watching in 2021 is yikes about the Kanye part 😬💀
fuck, man.....
Gotta be honest, wish the audience would be a little more quiet, kinda ruins the poem for me.
At a poetry slam, you're supposed to snap and make noise. The judges will give the poet a higher score because it shows that you were able to connect to the audience.
WiredPyro Job never doubts God, the speaker in this narrative does so I don't think it would be a good poem to describe the book of Job
When does this poem say there is no god? He never makes that asertion.
Like Job he talks about people suffering for no reason and how its impossible to make a case for yourself to something so massive as god. I feel like this poem is pretty spot on
He never doubts God's existence but he does question whether God listens or cares, Job keeps the faith through every hardship that Lucifer inflicts upons his and continues to pray know that God is listening to him and will get him through his tribulation
Several things about that. Job does not keep faith in God he begs god to end his life because every he has was lost and he had a skin disease.
God is responsible as he allows everything that satan does. In the context of the Book satan was God's judge whose tracked down sinners.
The entire book is centered around Job making arguments against a benevolent God. He argues for a passive god that not only does not punish evil but actively punishes people who have done nothing wrong. At the time this was written the idea of Heaven didnt exist it was all about rewards you get in life.
Having read the Book of Job several times (for research papers and for my own knowledge) I can say with quite a bit of confidence that Job would agree with a lot of the points the poem makes
the poem is probably good, but I wouldn't know because
echoes, bad glasses
uncombed hair
a beard that probably shouldn't be there
and the Tee that mismatches his body.
I would probably like the poem
but his avatar is in the way.
You shouldn't judge his looks. Judge the poem.
I would love to if the performance wasn't such a distraction
Maybe since you seem to get so distracted and caught up in appearances, you could simply listen to the poem without watching it. Trust me. The message is well worth hearing. Personally, I love his beard and his glasses. Then again, I tend to enjoy looking at and listening to people who seem to have figured out what is really important in this life and who don't seem to get all caught up in the shallow BS. Comments such as yours just remind me what a rarity that can be.
Everyone is a jugemental freak. Please do deny it but you can't deny that the way you percieve a person is mainly formed by first impression and there's nothing you can do about it. It is just a coinidence that this man seems to be "your type", therefore you find him attractive and can blame other people for being judgemental. And speaking solely on the audio, I can't hear him. the echoe is terrible and even UA-cam subtitles can't understand him
aplsos112 dude. Your speakers suck then. I can here him loud and clear.