Sarah Kay: How many lives can you live?
A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project VOICE, an organization that uses spoken word poetry as a literacy and empowerment tool. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
The moon sees me.
Měsíc vidí mě.
koho já nevidím.
Bože, požehnej i mně.
that I don't see.
koho nevidím.
his laptop, his pager, his alarm clock.
pager i budík.
asleep on his couch,
of coffee in the kitchen air.
ani stopa po kávě.
stopped working on their particle machine.
na svém urychlovači částic.
out the trash, is nervous,
smetí, je nervózní,
slupku a papírový kelímek.
a banana peel and a paper cup.
what this all mean for lost time.
ztraceného času.
are we losing per second?
can be launched?
odstartovat další raketa?
flies off its energy cloud.
ze svého energetického mraku.
the table for dinner.
pulse against his wrist.
the pillowcase's sailing masts.
opens his eyes at once.
the most wonderful job in the world.
tu nejkrásnější práci na světě.
not understand the concept
that I was going to get to do
moci dělat všechno a být vším.
based on age or gender
založené na věku, pohlaví,
historickém období.
to actually experience
of the civil rights movement
hnutí za lidská práva
on a farm during the dust bowl
během prachové bouře
dynasty in China.
my typical response was:
moje typická odpověď byla:
is that I wasn't trying to invent
I was gonna get to be:
o čem jsem si myslela, že se tím stanu:
and an astronaut.
probably went on from there.
of if I was gonna get to do something
jestli se k tomu dostanu, ale spíše kdy.
to do everything,
budu dělat všechno,
to move pretty quickly,
že se budu muset ohánět,
of stuff I needed to do.
in a state of rushing.
that I was falling behind.
in New York City, as far as I could tell,
spěchat bylo docela normální.
this sinking realization,
postupně jsem zjistila,
any more than one life.
to be a teenage girl
dospívající dívkou v New Yorku,
that I became obsessed with stories,
that I was able to see
očima někoho jiného,
however briefly or imperfectly.
other people's experiences
po poznání zkušeností ostatních,
that there were entire lives
které jsem nikdy neměla zažít
about everything that I was missing.
co mi uniká.
jsem si uvědomila, že existují lidé,
were never gonna get to experience
být dospívající dívkou v New Yorku.
in New York city.
after your first kiss feels like,
nebo jak vše ztichne, když sněží.
I wanted to tell them.
chtěla jsem jim to povědět.
and sharing stories and collecting them.
jejich sdílením a sběrem.
že poezii nemohu uspěchat.
I can't always rush poetry.
there's this challenge
probíhá výzva,
community participate in,
a říká se jí Výzva 30/30.
celého dubna
for the entire month of April.
for the first time
at which I was able to produce poetry.
s jakou jsem byla schopná tvořit poezii.
back at these 30 poems I had written
na těch 30 básní, které jsem napsala
all trying to tell the same story,
povědět ten stejný příběh,
out the way that it wanted to be told.
si způsob, jakým jej chci vyprávět.
of other stories on an even larger scale.
v ještě větším měřítku i pro jiné příběhy.
tried to tell for years,
povědět roky,
searching for the right words.
a hledala ta správná slova.
by the name of Paul Valéry
Paul Valéry řekl,
finished, it is only abandoned.
je pouze opuštěna.
re-editing and rewriting forever
upravovat a přepisovat
when a poem is finished
kdy je báseň hotová
my very obsessive nature
and the perfect words and the right form.
a ta dokonalá slova a správnou formu.
and work through things.
a zpracovala některé věci.
doesn't mean that I've solved
neznamená, že jsem vyřešila to,
where I was at that moment
v ten okamžik nacházela
opakovaně narážím
over for years and years
the prefect form,
tu správnou formu
in search of a better way to tell it.
lepšího způsobu jeho vyprávění, přepíši.
this is where I was at this moment
in this room, with you.
v této místnosti, s vámi.
to get your hands dirty.
zašpinit ruce.
for most of it, fumbling was a given.
tápání bylo nevyhnutelné.
contrast, more saturation,
více saturace,
chemikálie, až po zápěstí.
chemicals, longer up to your wrist.
with his sleeves rolled up,
s vyhrnutými rukávy,
the sailor man come to life.
with a smirk and a hobby.
s úšklebkem a koníčkem.
much about photography,
zda ví něco o fotografování,
Europe like a map,
of a fighter plane,
read his way home.
pročíst cestu domů.
they would put their weapons out to rest,
odložili své zbraně,
and the cameras home with him.
a foťáky s sebou domů.
into a family affair.
v rodinnou záležitost.
world of black and white.
černé a bílé.
the tiny clicks and slides
drobná kliknutí
filmu do kamery,
but not the art.
ale ne umění.
spent his time following light.
strávil čas následováním světla.
to follow a forest fire,
za lesním požárem,
I only recognize from photographs.
with the creaky hallways,
s vrzajícími chodbami,
white walls and cold floors.
a studenými podlahami.
before she was mother.
předtím než byla matkou.
byla umělkyní.
all the way up to the ceiling,
an 8x10 bed enlarger
zvětšovákem 2,5 x 3 m,
obrovskou ruční klikou,
by a giant hand crank,
pro prohlížení tisků,
in and out from the wall.
a zasouval do zdi.
with basketball hands,
s basketbalovýma rukama,
na narozeninové oslavy a honby za poklady.
with red balloons and yellow icing.
červenými balónky a žlutou polevou.
without freckles,
s křivým úsměvem,
did not have darkrooms in their houses,
nemají ve svých domech temnou komoru,
hair and bubble gum cheeks.
a buclatými tvářemi.
in that house near the park.
the sweet potato boy,
chlapec sladká brambora,
matka temná komora,
and said their prayers,
a odříkávali své modlitby
became a house under ash, so they escaped
pod popelem, tak utekli s batohy
was built for an artist,
byl postaven pro umělce,
do not hold in the yelling
neudrží křik
put his weapons out to rest.
odložil své zbraně k odpočinku.
and no maps pointed home.
žádná mapa neukazovala domů.
his fists into his mouth
pěstmi do obličeje,
went treasure hunting on her own.
na hon za pokladem sama.
with the creaky hallways
s vrzajícími chodbami
she found a note,
nalezla lísteček,
left over from a time before towers,
z doby před věžemi,
the girl who works in the darkroom."
která pracuje v temné komoře."
picked up a camera again.
opět chopil foťáku.
the Christmas lights,
New York City's trees,
new yorskými stromy,
from out of the darkest darks.
z nejtemnější tmy.
across the country to follow a forest fire
za lesním požárem,
it with his camera,
ve své cestě.
a napsala báseň na okraj svého sešitu.
in the margins of my notebook.
the art of embracing.
the art of letting go.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sarah Kay - PoetA performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project VOICE, an organization that uses spoken word poetry as a literacy and empowerment tool.
Why you should listen
Plenty of 14-year-old girls write poetry. But few hide under the bar of the famous Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan’s East Village absorbing the talents of New York’s most exciting poets. Not only did Sarah Kay do that -- she also had the guts to take its stage and hold her own against performers at least a decade her senior. Her talent for weaving words into poignant, funny, and powerful performances paid off.
Sarah holds a Masters degree in the art of teaching from Brown University and an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Grinnell College. Her first book, B, was ranked the number one poetry book on Amazon.com. Her second book, No Matter the Wreckage, is available from Write Bloody Publishing.
Sarah also founded Project VOICE, an organization that uses spoken word poetry as a literacy and empowerment tool. Project VOICE runs performances and workshops to encourage people to engage in creative self-expression in schools and communities around the world.
Sarah Kay | Speaker | TED.com