Poetry

No poet will ever take the written word as a substitute for the spoken word; he knows that it is on the spoken word, and the spoken word only, that his art is founded.

Lascelles Abercrombie – Poet

• About Spoken Word Poetry

  Historically poetry has always been considered esoteric. Many still hold this viewpoint, however a new perspective of poetry has emerged in contemporary times and it has become more accessible to the wider public as an art form.

  Spoken word is a performance art that is word-based, for example, a poem, a verse from a song or even a dynamic speech. A spoken word artist can choose to integrate various other art forms (music, images, etc) and modes of communication (physical movement, facial expression, etc) into their performance to compliment their initial word-based performance but the focus and the creative emphasis tends to be on the ‘spoken’ words.

  Poetry of this kind is essentially someone’s personal account of an experience, situation or subject. It is the artists unique interpretation, an attempt to put the good, the bad, the wonderful and the ugly into words.

  “For me poetry was a way to explore and clarify my own thoughts, feelings and experiences. Poetry allowed me to bring clarity to ideas and strengthen my inner voice. It enabled me to be more creative with my communication abilities. Poetry gave me the inspiration to write, question and explore things about the world I probably never would have.”

  Shaun ‘Evoke’ Welch

Poems

• What is poetry?

  Poetry is a lot of things it can’t be summed up in one
  Before you know it, it’s packed its bags, it’s up and it’s gone
  It’s a trunk for a tree or a stem for a plant
  It’s the muscles that pull the fingers to the palm of a hand
  To create a metaphoric fist to break through the glass
  Of a ceiling that limits us to the rules of the past

  What is poetry you say, its freedom at last!
  It’s for you it’s for me, its tit for tat
  It’s a picture, it’s a sound
  It’s a description of what you smell
  If you could touch it to taste it your taste bud would melt

  A poetic line can cross lines and make you feel things you have never felt
  It’s an exchange of your perception or an expression of thy self
  It’s freedom of speech in which you can teach or learn the basics of truth
  Because when you’ve expressed what’s in your chest, it hasn’t come from him or her – just you

  Poetry is everything that moves with rhythm
  From a baby’s first step, to the seas surrounding Britain
  Poetry is the key to the door of expression
  The more polished the key the better the impression
  Poetry is a mirror image of thy self
  You can find it in music or on a book shelf.
  Wherever you go, whoever you see
  Look out for the poet within him, her and me…

  POETRY!
  An intellectual thinker would try to splinter the ‘soul’ meaning of poetry
  They’d say it’s a structure of complex syllable context where rhyming would be the centre piece
  But poetry can’t be defined by what it’s made up of
  Because words are not the fundamental spark, which creates the blast off…

  The spark begins in the mind; just after that feeling from within
  From there you put pen to paper and let it bleed its ink.
  Poetry is a shoulder to cry on or a caring hand to hold
  Throughout history it’s a fact that poems are the best stories ever told

  It’s a path to choose or a road to cross
  It bridges the gap to what was once lost
  A place where people can connect through words
  And where a whole life story can be expressed in a single verse

  So next time someone asks you: what is poetry?
  You can reply with a smile: it’s everything that exists… it is me… it is you.

For all those interested in writing poetry feel free to email any poems you would like to share or post them in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Performance

Let the art speak for itself!

Inspirational Speaking

Shaun is committed to putting creativity back into the learning experience and putting innovative ideas into practice, utilizing spoken word poetry as an educational tool, he actively promotes creativity and inspires an entrepreneurial mindset by drawing upon his experience in the creative arts.

During talks Shaun endeavours to entertain and educate at the same time so that students learn quickly through experience that their opinions and ideas are important and valid and thus all the inspiration that they need to go out into the real world and make positive impacts on their own and other peoples’ lives.

Talks so far…
Shaun has delivered talks on –

• Contemporary education
• Alternative education
• Entrepreneurship
• Following your dreams
• Creative processes and how to engage children creatively
• Creative audio description
• Raising awareness of the stigmas towards mental health

Do you have a message you would like to get across to an audience? Get in touch.