God Bless That Somebody Whom I Can't See

I see the moon; the moon sees me.

The moon sees somebody whom I can’t see.

God bless the moon. God bless me.

God bless that somebody whom I can’t see.

Poetry doesn’t start until you start telling the truth, until it’s somebody else’s soul that it soothes.

It all began during the 8th century, with Homer reading “The Odyssey” with an aim to mold people’s vision towards life. This urge to influence was mostly conversational. It meant more to the listeners to sit together and exchange the verses, rather than reading it on a piece of paper.

It was in the 1950s when a group of non-conformist writers and poets called The Beats railed against the societal norms by putting together a perfect combination of poetry and theatre, giving rise to what we call today Spoken Word Poetry, a form of storytelling which is not just meant to be left on paper, but intended to be performed. Performance Poetry is what many calls it.

According to Apples and Snakes, one of the most renowned community of spoken word poetry based out of London, this vibe grew thereafter. From a means to counter at protests during 1960 civil rights movement, to hip hop culture by political black poetry, to the first open mic in 1980s at Chicago.

A wave of conversational experimentation began. From Dub Poetry to Toasting to– Cabaret Scene to Musical Slams to Eminem Rap to Street Busking and many more.

And, it got me thinking, what makes it so impactful? How is this artform so powerful? Are there some set of complex rules these artists follow?

Well, I realized that “A Change doesn’t require a difficult idea but implementation of simple ideas in a rightful way. “

A combination of two simple components - Right set of Words & Poised Voice, is what it all takes.

And honestly, I didn’t know this when I embarked on this journey!

All I knew was I wanted to express. And words gave me solace. That’s it!

My favorite spoken word artist, Sarah Kay, who is also the one whose work inspired me to progress on this path, says, “We live in a world of dreamers and artists. And the day we realized that we are artists too, is the day you become a change”.

I am lucky enough to witness this day on a daily basis, when I share my story on my Instagram page, or when I interact with fellow poets to hear their perspective on a topic, or when I organize open mic events with my friends.

I have only one goal at the back of my head – To let the listener believe that they are not alone in whatever that is happening with them because sometimes people don’t want a solution, they just want to hear that they are not the only ones.

To give an authentic perspective on this whole idea of “empowering” the souls, I conducted an interview of one such humble artist. Joel Sébastien. He is the co-founder of a Spoken Word Community in Chennai called The Project Prodets.

It was a 30 min discussion and every word said by Joel was like a déjà vu in my head.

Talking to him made me realize how spoken word not only benefits the listeners rather the orator themselves.

Joel also shared his first open mic experience where he met the other two co-founders, and that how in a click this idea was born because there was a common yearning to make an impact in the society.

I wondered, what’s a better means to become a Social Entrepreneur?

Finally, we closed the conversation with a key message to ponder upon. That Everyone’s an artist. Some have already realized it; some are yet to realize. That’s it.

Because at the end of all. It doesn’t matter whether you mastered the art or not? All that matters is whether it touched even a single soul. Because, the poet inside each one of us want just one thing, which is:

That Gold Bless That Somebody whom we can’t see!

That Gold Bless That Somebody whom we can’t see!

Find a snippet of the interview below:

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. :)