Kyle "Guante" Tran Myhre - Starfish
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- Опубліковано 11 бер 2015
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Kyle "Guante" Tran Myhre, performing at Soap Boxing Poetry Slam in Minneapolis, MN.
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"my job these days is to turn on all the lights and pretend to be brave"
damn. heavy
One of the cool things about poetry on UA-cam is that we can actually talk about the poems. I know that's frowned upon in some circles, but I wanted to share my motivation for writing this, and am down to discuss it if people have thoughts, counterpoints, questions, etc.
This is a poem I wrote about the tension that can sometimes exist between doing face-to-face activist/educational/service work that you know is good and that you know has an impact... while not seeing the larger systems/trends change. As much as we might know on an intellectual level that we need BOTH (for example: we need people who volunteer at the homeless shelter AND people who organize around pushing policies that can end homelessness), it can be a challenge to figure how you fit in, where you should expend your energy. This poem is a reminder for me to continue developing more nuanced frameworks for how I think about change, to value and honor individual contributions while never losing sight of the larger goals of sustainable, institutional transformation.
dude, i run a minecraft youtube channel. i never had the money for a teaching certificate. i lived in the "war zone" of albuquerque, nm for fifteen years. every kid in the hood hung out at my house. until the La Mesa CIA (community improvement association) decided there's something fishy about an old woman letting brown skinned kids hang at her house after school & on weekends, so i was evicted for a trumped-up "uninhabitable" sticker, sent to a psych ward for an evaluation i was released from 20 minutes later -- but charged four hundred dollars for the kidnap-by-ambulance, left immediately homeless.
dood, i play with kids so screwed up, so cynical, so cruel... it's a game, man. it's a game. and those are almost all privileged, white, western kids.
but i see minecraft as Potential -- for ALL kids: disabilities, cultures, genders, orientations.... We don't know who the next lil genius will b and my channel says no bullying and you're ok just the way you are.
dood, my life is all about the star fish. i hear you
Hey, this poem really resonated with me. I was teaching a workshop earlier today about critical reflection in social justice/movement organizing and i recounted an allegory people use to speak to what you just said. You've probably heard it. You come upon a stream with babies floating down a river towards almost certain death. And you have a choice to either get in the water and start taking out babies, or to figure out who is throwing them in (or how they're falling in, etc.).
It's interesting because the obvious moral of the story is that you have to go upstream -- to find the root cause. But it's not always easy to figure out what's causing these babies to fall or be thrown into the river. And sometimes when you figure out what the true cause is, it's something so far beyond your control (global neoliberalism, a patriarchal culture, etc.) that it can just feel easier to pat yourself on the back for pulling babies out of the water. Anyway, that's what your poem reminded me of. Thank's for all your work and for being down to discuss your poetry with people.
I am a middle school science teacher during the week and a poet mentor on the weekends. On my desk right now is pile of papers that need grading and one of my students poems about why she used to cut herself. I have been working with her since she got back from suicide watch. Writing poems back and forth, sneaking button poetry into random moments in class. It has taken me all this time to get her to write something honest and vulnerable and I wonder all the time if this interaction is enough to keep her afloat. You do all you can you begin to feel overwhelmed and tired and useless. It seems like the system is against the very thing it should stand for and it makes you question whether or not you belong. Still I can't stop fighting. My brain says its pointless but my heart doesn't know how not to love these kids and this profession (in spite of how broken it may have become). There is some kind of relief in knowing that this struggle is a common one. That someone knows this feeling and is telling this story. Your piece brought me to tears. Thank you for this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The Spoken Word Project NELA
I'm a high school student from Minnesota; you came to my school last week for an Off the Page event. When I heard you were coming, I was really excited because my friends and I love your work (one of my friends even used one of your poems to analyze for her English presentation- she also had the chance to meet you at a poetry workshop our school had held a few weeks before). I had to miss both events because of other commitments, but my friends who got to go and meet you absolutely loved it. The next day, all they could talk about was what a cool person you are and how you and your work have inspired them. I was extremely jealous. But just the fact that you go around helping teenagers and sharing your work is amazing, and I just wanted to say thank you, because even though I didn't get to see you, I still get what all my friends were talking about. Love from all the starfish.
I love the way Guante writes/speaks his poetry. His expression is so unique and almost absurd or incongruous but it is because of that quality that it is so moving, fresh and beautiful that it makes me see things in a whole new light, surprisingly making me see things more clearly.
the frustration and commitment is so powerful - that was seriously incredible
Thanks for capturing this!
Dude, you're consistently my favorite poet to watch. I'm graduating in December with a history degree, and all I want to do is fight for the kids. Keep doing what you're doing, dude. I'll keep watching.
I really love your poems dude :) You are a great poet keep doing what you're doing :)
There is a magic in your voice, it's so captivating
Wow. Simply breathtaking, I loved every second of it.
Though, when you said you needed to teach starfish to fly I couldn't help but imagine them taking off like helicopters.
Damn you. Now this is all I see!
He was my best friends poet, she passed away last week of an over dose. she wouldve loved this one. Rip beautiful
tears for this man and his art
Guante, thank you for this poem. With this poem, I thanked my teachers who were there for me all throughout high school.
I performed this poem to several teachers of mine that I cherished and it touched them just as your poem touched me. You helped me tell the amazing teachers I know how important they are to me.
Thank you.
I teach and honestly it's heartbreaking at times. "We make a difference but not enough of one" 💔💔💔
There's something about the way his voice sounds when he performs that makes the poem sound even more beautiful.
Making a difference but not enough..painfully but beautifully put.
Im in love with your words they seem to flow so smoothly. My fave poem you have done was "10 responses to the phrase man up". By far one of my fave poets on here. You r such an inspiration!
I don't think you can question why this guy's my favourite poet.
This man deserves all the respect in the world. He weaves words like no one I have ever seen before.
I've never found any of his performances 'engaging' or relatable in the past.... But this has left me dumbstruck, it's incredible. :3
That was wonderful, Guante. Thank you.
I love his passion.
How do you even get this good! WOW!
Downright chilling, yet hopeful, great job.
Thank you Guante! You have inspired me.
It's so amazing,every second of it!
one f my favourite spoke work poets, this guys really got something
This is so honest. I love it.
Love it!
bruhhh... this dude spittin flames! His imagery is on point!!!
Wow. This is really incredible.
The feels
I teach high school. I can SO relate to this sentiment. My job these days....to teach starfish to fly.
WHAT?! YES. #worthit
Nice. ( that's all the words I have for this bc it is just too good)
Why couldn't Guante ever come to my high school. :(
I'm stuck...somewhere between you're welcome and...I'm sorry. 💜💔💜
GUANTE has your perspective changed over the past two and a half years since you performed this? If so how so? Would it be worthy of another poem considering the educational system? (Coming from a teacher from the US that is currently teaching in Cairo, Egypt)
Anyone else just vibe with this even when you think youve forgotten how to let shit in..? Nah, just me? I mean alright 👐
I'm stuck somewhere between thank you and I'm sorry
"If I had gills I'd fly.... "
Wish you could come to my skl Burlington Danes academy London W12 feel free to visit
You're beautiful.