707 BRONX JUMPA street beat… no, a clave/ not just one, but a chorus of Cuban souls, whispering stories of sun-drenched streets/ sugar cane rum, and women of the streets/ Conga lines in the neighborhood/ Fidel Castro and baseball/
Mongo Santamaria, Chucho Valdes, and Perez Prado/
rumba and rebellion, history in their pulse/ then a...
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Categories:
spoken word,
Form: Spoken Word
The Paradiddle of Being: A Rhythmic Meditation Pt1In the beginning was the Single Stroke Roll—
left-right, left-right, the primordial heartbeat
of existence itself, each alternation a binary choice
between being and non-being, the eternal paradiddle
of consciousness striking against the drumhead of reality.
Listen: the Buzz Roll of morning traffic
ten thousand souls creating multiple bounces
against the stretched skin of commuter silence
each ghost note a rhythmic prayer unheard
each...
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Categories:
childhood, identity, introspection, loss,
Form: Spoken Word
Break FreeBreak free from the hell around you
And expel the darkness within you
Break free from the chords of time
And get in touch with your creative mind
empty the sorrows within you
and remove the clouds from around
ambition is the string that tied you
to the unrealistic dream, you just have
one more month to go before destiny
unveil them...
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Categories:
america, beautiful, betrayal, body,
Form: Spoken Word
Mark Murphy Moments(Snapping fingers rhythmically) Vocalese with ease... yeah... moments… improv… Off the top, breath bubbling, a spontaneous combustion of sounds, to be boppin' the melody/
Jazz popping vocal notes of wonderment, feeling the rhyme on beat street dancing lyrics, a rhythm so intrinsic… moments... Mark Murphy... strutting... smokin’… in a vocal breeze/
No wordy rhymes here,...
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Categories:
spoken word,
Form: Spoken Word
Con Man Gil B ShiftThe lights dim, and a single spotlight illuminates the dude speaker/He adjusts the microphone the voice, and when it comes, it is strong.) The Confidence Man)/
He's not a robber with a gun and mask, He's smoother than silk, a velvet task/ a wanna be hipster and grifter, mean and selfish, a con man to...
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Categories:
spoken word,
Form: Spoken Word
Don’t Miss Maybe Your Only Call: Jesus Is HereDon’t wait for a trumpet when the breath in your lungs is already shouting.
Don’t wait for a sky to tear when your soul is already trembling.
The signs are not in the clouds, they’re in your compromise.
The delay is not His it’s yours.
You think you’ve got time?
You think your youth is a shield?
You gamble eternity on...
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Categories:
12th grade, america, for
Form: Spoken Word
A Friendly Reminder For Our NationMr. President, Mr. Vice President, Americans, and the world:
In the crucible of revolution, our forefathers etched their pledge—
a bold testament inscribed not solely in ink,
but in the quiet, relentless pulse of divine dependence.
It is as if the ink itself carried whispers
of a celestial covenant,
affirming divine Providence
into the very marrow of liberty.
Yet,...
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Categories:
america, remember, slam, society,
Form: Spoken Word
Seeing Earth as it was
An ask of mine needs urgent sating
I don’t mean to blashpeme or be rude
But when God was done and dusted creating
And he looked and saw that “it was good”
What was he looking at?
Were his eyes glued to the Andes
As the little mountains popped up like warts
Or was it trained on the Ganges
As it snaked its...
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Categories:
beauty, nature, perspective,
Form: Spoken Word
The Last of Them(spotlight hits center stage. A figure approaches, casual, confident. He grabs the mic, James Brown’s defiant anthem “Say It Loud- I’m Black and I’m Proud”
fades into the background.) The crowd goes silent, the stage a vacant square, pulls up a bar stool, sits, lights go dim, he breathes in the electric air.)
Dig The...
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Categories:
spoken word,
Form: Spoken Word
BEN NOLALights dim, and a single spotlight illuminates the stage/Ben Nola has sumptin 2 say/
a page/ a stage/ two worlds were born from the seed of thought/
One, etched in ink, a monument meticulously wrought/ the other, breath-given word jumpin’ form/ Be-bop talkin’ jazz flo cuttin’ up the airways/
a voice defying silence, an organ...
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Categories:
spoken word,
Form: Spoken Word
Hibiscus SunriseHibiscus Sunrise... Not the diluted hues of Instagram filters/
But the raw, unfiltered blaze of truth/
They say there's one way, only one way, to tell it/ No 'alternative facts' shimmering like heat haze in a desert of deception/
Just the bone-deep, gut-wrenching, soul-exposing...truth/
And damn, the music! SOUL, elevated/ to another level, altogether/Funk till...
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Categories:
spoken word,
Form: Spoken Word
The Premise of Faith
I stood on top of the mountain looking at the distant that I am coming from, I see the universe swelling around me and the mass parading before me, I have never been to the mountain top but I could feel destiny resting in my lap. Life has taken on a new meaning and I...
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Categories:
america, community, cry, fantasy,
Form: Spoken Word
Oh yeah, baby!(Yo Bone hits the Mic, lights dim) soulful Urban Funk/ Ain't no genre/ it's a feeling/ Downtempo Swing beats lovers in tight/
Lo-Fi whispers through the city's roar, Urban Pop shimmers, not for ghetto listeners, that’s for sure/
Soulful Hip-Hop, on a hot summer day, Breaks in the beat, gotta have it your way/...
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Categories:
spoken word,
Form: Spoken Word
Bad Sick BrainsBad sick brains/ A jolt to the soul Energy raw, untamed, a primal scream/
Then Blink-182, "First Date," pop punk dreams, sixty million views, a digital stream, what a bad dream/ is anybody makin’ money nowadays? But views ain’t loyalty, tour duty, the grit and the grind/
The scar tissue earned, a chair...
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Categories:
spoken word,
Form: Spoken Word
Rebel HoustonRebel Houston
(Snaps fingers) Acoustic Digital Hybrid... a breath, a fusion. So, what lurks beyond jazz funk, huh?/
Thinkin' big time, are you? Do you dig? Can you feel it as you pursue your passion for this jazz thing/
The inventive spirit of Rebel Houston burns, A saxophone supernova, learning, turning. Always into what's NEXT,/
not...
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Categories:
spoken word,
Form: Spoken Word
Specific Types of Spoken Word Poems
Definition | What is Spoken Word in Poetry?