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Posted: 12/19/2003
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In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth, and in between here and there somewhere, I cannot help but imagine that God created poetry, a.k.a.-spoken word. I personally believe that poetry has been around since the biblical times probably since the days of Moses and the ancient people of Israel. In reading my bible, I have had visions of Moses doing the first open mic at Mount Sinai. He probably opened up every set with the Ten Commandments to keep the people conscious and holy, but first he would tell the crowd one ancient now classic rule, ‘Respect the mic!’ Then he went into the open mic portion of the show where Israelites would step up to the mic and bare there souls about slavery in the land of Egypt. I am sure Moses thought of it as a way for his people to cleanse their souls of temptation and the everyday struggle. I envision Moses as being a great host, both serious and at times funny while making sure the crowd would again, ‘respect the mic.’ Yeah, now that is how I envision it, the so-called birth of spoken word.
I see spoken word comprised in a land far, far away with Moses. I see Moses as being a conscious brother with rod in hand, not afraid to talk about his dissatisfaction with man. I envision Moses getting brothers and sisters pumped up about revolution and evolution, yet at the same time he was delivering messages from God, about a solution. I can see Moses and his people all sitting in the grass on Mount Sinai gathered around a tree, sipping on herbal tea, and inhaling the cool breeze from the leaves from surrounding trees, in the forest.
I can hear the women whispering, “Oh, he is so deep.”
Then I can hear the brothers in the back yelling: “Speak,” as Moses just continues with his delivery, breaking down the Ten Commandments, in poetry.
I look at a modern day poet as a modern day Moses still delivering those messages from God. These modern day prophets still walk and talk about revolution and evolution while delivering messages about a solution, to the problems at hand. I find that most poets are still unhappy with man, and what sparks their interest is the fact that they believe that their words can, make a difference. Most poets do not have a concrete plan. They just walk from open mic to open mic delivering messages from God as if they were Moses or better yet Jesus walking in the holy land, just keeping it humble. Most poets’ only desire is that their audience appreciates the message, gets it, and just understands.
Sometimes I just sit in on poetry spots, order me some herbal tea, and inhale the cool scent of incense burning, in the club or cafe. As I sit quietly, I overhear people whispering, “What in God’s name is he talking about?”
I hear a sister reply, “He’s deep.”
Then brothers from the back all in unison yell out “Speak!” I guess God knew what he was doing when in the beginning he created poetry, a.k.a.-spoken word. God knew that the best way to get a message out was by word of mouth.
JIVE Magazine welcomes our latest addition to our line of columnists, Eddie Oliver. Eddie, a renown poet and spoken word artist who performs regularly in Atlanta, will be writing about the art of the poet and spoken word, along with the culture that surrounds it. Find out more about Eddie Oliver and check out his website at www.eddieoliver.com
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