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.
Mesiac vidí mňa.
a Boh požehnaj mňa.
that I don't see.
koho nevidím.
his laptop, his pager, his alarm clock.
pager, svoj budík.
asleep on his couch,
of coffee in the kitchen air.
stopped working on their particle machine.
vyrábať súčiastky.
out the trash, is nervous,
je vyniesť smeti, je nervózne,
banánová šupka a papierový pohár.
a banana peel and a paper cup.
what this all mean for lost time.
čo to znamená pre stratený čas.
are we losing per second?
can be launched?
ďalšia raketa?
flies off its energy cloud.
zo svojho energetického oblaku.
the table for dinner.
pulse against his wrist.
na jeho zápästí.
the pillowcase's sailing masts.
opens his eyes at once.
the most wonderful job in the world.
najlepšiu prácu na svete.
not understand the concept
nevedela som pochopiť,
that I was going to get to do
based on age or gender
založený na veku či pohlaví,
to actually experience
of the civil rights movement
on a farm during the dust bowl
žijúcim na farme počas púštnej búrky,
dynasty in China.
my typical response was:
zväčša som odpovedala:
is that I wasn't trying to invent
že som sa nesnažila vynájsť
I was gonna get to be:
ktorými som chcela byť:
and an astronaut.
probably went on from there.
že ten zoznam by pokračoval,
of if I was gonna get to do something
to do everything,
robiť toto všetko,
to move pretty quickly,
of stuff I needed to do.
ktoré som musela robiť.
in a state of rushing.
that I was falling behind.
in New York City, as far as I could tell,
mala som dojem,
this sinking realization,
pomaly som začala chápať,
any more than one life.
to be a teenage girl
mladým dievčaťom
that I became obsessed with stories,
ma fascinovali príbehy,
that I was able to see
som bola schopná vidieť
however briefly or imperfectly.
aj keď len trocha a nedokonale.
other people's experiences
that there were entire lives
about everything that I was missing.
o čo prídem.
were never gonna get to experience
in New York city.
žijúcim v New Yorku.
after your first kiss feels like,
ako dostanete svoju prvú pusu
I wanted to tell them.
chcela som im to povedať.
and sharing stories and collecting them.
počúvať a zbierať ich.
I can't always rush poetry.
there's this challenge
sa koná výzva,
community participate in,
v rôznych komunitách
for the entire month of April.
for the first time
at which I was able to produce poetry.
výkonná pri písaní básní.
back at these 30 poems I had written
pozrela na mojich 30 básní
all trying to tell the same story,
hovorili rovnaký príbeh,
out the way that it wanted to be told.
prišla na to, ako to chcem povedať.
of other stories on an even larger scale.
pri všetkých ostatných príbehoch.
tried to tell for years,
searching for the right words.
hľadám správne slová.
by the name of Paul Valéry
finished, it is only abandoned.
dokončená báseň, len opustená.
re-editing and rewriting forever
prepisovať a upravovať navždy
when a poem is finished
my very obsessive nature
s mojou posadnutosťou
and the perfect words and the right form.
slová a správnu formu.
and work through things.
v ťažkých časoch.
doesn't mean that I've solved
neznamená, že som vyriešila
where I was at that moment
kde som sa vtedy nachádzala
aby mi pomohli.
over for years and years
the prefect form,
či už má perfektnú podobu,
in search of a better way to tell it.
aby som ho spravila dokonalým.
this is where I was at this moment
som bola v tomto momente
in this room, with you.
v tejto miestnosti, s vami.
to get your hands dirty.
museli zašpiniť ruky.
for most of it, fumbling was a given.
a tápanie bolo samozrejmosťou.
contrast, more saturation,
lepšiu sýtosť farieb,
chemicals, longer up to your wrist.
vdychovaním chemikálií,
with his sleeves rolled up,
the sailor man come to life.
with a smirk and a hobby.
s úškrnom a koníčkom.
much about photography,
Europe like a map,
of a fighter plane,
read his way home.
tak ako poznal cestu domov.
they would put their weapons out to rest,
odložili bojové zbrane na odpočinok.
a objektívy so sebou.
and the cameras home with him.
into a family affair.
premenil ho v rodinný podnik.
world of black and white.
čierno-bieleho sveta.
the tiny clicks and slides
tie malé gombíky
but not the art.
no nerozumel umeniu.
spent his time following light.
venoval čas nasledovaniu svetla.
to follow a forest fire,
aby nasledoval horiaci les,
po celý týždeň.
I only recognize from photographs.
ktoré poznám len z fotografií.
with the creaky hallways,
s vŕzgajúcou chodbou,
white walls and cold floors.
biele steny a studené dlážky.
before she was mother.
predtým, než sa stala mamou.
bola umelkyňou.
all the way up to the ceiling,
an 8x10 bed enlarger
a zväčšovák, ktorý ovládala
by a giant hand crank,
in and out from the wall.
with basketball hands,
s basketbalovými rukami,
with red balloons and yellow icing.
without freckles,
did not have darkrooms in their houses,
nemajú domy s tmavými komorami,
hair and bubble gum cheeks.
a bucľaté líčka.
in that house near the park.
the sweet potato boy,
a chlapček sladký zemiačik,
and said their prayers,
odriekali svoje modlitby
became a house under ash, so they escaped
domom pod popolom, tak odišli
was built for an artist,
bolo postavené pre umelca,
do not hold in the yelling
neudržali krik
put his weapons out to rest.
odložil svoje zbrane na odpočinok.
and no maps pointed home.
a na žiadnej z máp nebol domov.
his fists into his mouth
si jedol päste,
went treasure hunting on her own.
samo hľadalo poklady.
with the creaky hallways
v budove s vŕgajúcou chodbou
she found a note,
left over from a time before towers,
ktorý tu bol skôr ako tie budovy,
the girl who works in the darkroom."
dievča z tmavej komory.“
picked up a camera again.
znova začať fotografovať.
the Christmas lights,
vianočné svetlá
New York City's trees,
newyorských ulíc,
from out of the darkest darks.
ktoré naňho blikali z najtmavšej tmy.
across the country to follow a forest fire
aby nasledoval horiaci les
it with his camera,
so svojím fotoaparátom,
ktoré mu stáli v ceste.
in the margins of my notebook.
na okraje môjho zošita.
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