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.
а він мене.
The moon sees me.
кого не бачу я.
благослови мене.
кого не бачу я.
that I don't see.
а тебе там нема,
для тебе в небеса.
на кожній зорі,
his laptop, his pager, his alarm clock.
ноутбук, пейджер, будильник.
asleep on his couch,
спить собі на дивані,
of coffee in the kitchen air.
на зварену каву.
stopped working on their particle machine.
роботу над прискорювачем часток.
out the trash, is nervous,
сміття, занепокоївся,
a banana peel and a paper cup.
шкірку банана і стаканчик.
what this all mean for lost time.
що все це значить для втраченого часу.
are we losing per second?
can be launched?
flies off its energy cloud.
своє електричне поле.
the table for dinner.
"Закон і порядок".
pulse against his wrist.
металевим пульсом.
the pillowcase's sailing masts.
його наволочки.
opens his eyes at once.
він враз розплющує очі.
the most wonderful job in the world.
мають найкращу роботу на світі.
not understand the concept
я не могла зрозуміти,
that I was going to get to do
що встигну зробити все,
based on age or gender
часовий період не грали ролі.
to actually experience
насправді відчую
of the civil rights movement
руху за громадянські права,
on a farm during the dust bowl
який жив під час пилових бур,
dynasty in China.
my typical response was:
я завжди відповідала:
is that I wasn't trying to invent
що я, насправді,
I was gonna get to be:
ким мені випаде стати:
and an astronaut.
та астронавткою.
probably went on from there.
of if I was gonna get to do something
чи я зрештою зроблю це,
to do everything,
що встигну зробити все,
to move pretty quickly,
of stuff I needed to do.
було в постійному поспіху.
in a state of rushing.
that I was falling behind.
що відстану.
in New York City, as far as I could tell,
де я виросла,
this sinking realization,
я прикро усвідомила,
any more than one life.
більше одного життя.
to be a teenage girl
дівчинкою-підлітком
that I became obsessed with stories,
that I was able to see
хай як коротко чи недовершено,
however briefly or imperfectly.
other people's experiences
досвід інших людей,
that there were entire lives
що були цілі життя,
about everything that I was missing.
were never gonna get to experience
ніколи й не знатимуть,
in New York city.
підлітком в Нью-Йорку.
after your first kiss feels like,
після першого поцілунку,
I wanted to tell them.
and sharing stories and collecting them.
збирала і поширювала їх.
I can't always rush poetry.
не пишеться.
there's this challenge
називається "30 днів - 30 віршів".
community participate in,
for the entire month of April.
for the first time
at which I was able to produce poetry.
ефективно складати поезію.
back at these 30 poems I had written
я перечитала всі 30 віршів
all trying to tell the same story,
що всі вони були про те саме.
out the way that it wanted to be told.
щоб правильно це висловити.
of other stories on an even larger scale.
теж відповідають цьому правилу.
tried to tell for years,
розказати історії,
searching for the right words.
й шукаючи необхідні слова.
by the name of Paul Valéry
finished, it is only abandoned.
тільки покинути, а не завершити.
re-editing and rewriting forever
переписувати й підправляти
when a poem is finished
від мене залежить, коли
my very obsessive nature
моєму надмірному старанню
and the perfect words and the right form.
правильну форму й слова.
and work through things.
долати проблеми.
doesn't mean that I've solved
не означатиме, що я розв'язала
where I was at that moment
де я була в той час,
over for years and years
the prefect form,
знайшла правильну форму,
in search of a better way to tell it.
щойно зможу краще її розказати.
this is where I was at this moment
in this room, with you.
в цій аудиторії, з вами.
to get your hands dirty.
добре постаратися.
for most of it, fumbling was a given.
легко було перечепитися.
contrast, more saturation,
контрасту, насиченості,
було марно.
chemicals, longer up to your wrist.
хімікатами, мастити ними руки.
with his sleeves rolled up,
із закасаними рукавами
the sailor man come to life.
Папая-моряка.
with a smirk and a hobby.
фотоапаратом та вишкіреними зубами.
much about photography,
своє знання фотозйомки,
Europe like a map,
of a fighter plane,
найсвітліше світло.
read his way home.
навчився читати дорогу додому.
they would put their weapons out to rest,
відкладали свою зброю,
and the cameras home with him.
із собою додому.
into a family affair.
що переросла в сімейний бізнес.
world of black and white.
чорного й білого.
the tiny clicks and slides
найдрібніші кнопочки,
як плівка живила камеру,
but not the art.
але не на фотографії.
spent his time following light.
та все життя йшов за ним.
to follow a forest fire,
щоби зняти лісову пожежу.
зі своєю камерою.
I only recognize from photographs.
показують мене з різних боків.
with the creaky hallways,
зі скрипучими коридорами,
white walls and cold floors.
білі стіни, холодна підлога.
before she was mother.
навіть до того, як вона стала нею.
вона була мисткинею.
all the way up to the ceiling,
що сягали стінами стелі
зробила сама:
an 8x10 bed enlarger
із фотозбільшувачем,
by a giant hand crank,
величезний важіль,
in and out from the wall.
with basketball hands,
з грубими руками,
народилася донька.
днів народжень.
заповнила фотоальбоми
with red balloons and yellow icing.
першими кроками.
without freckles,
без ластовиння,
did not have darkrooms in their houses,
не мали темної кімнати в своїх будинках,
hair and bubble gum cheeks.
та рум'янцем на щічках.
in that house near the park.
в будинку біля парку.
the sweet potato boy,
and said their prayers,
промовляли молитви.
became a house under ash, so they escaped
тому вони покинули його,
was built for an artist,
облюбували голуби,
do not hold in the yelling
не стримували крику,
put his weapons out to rest.
відклав свою зброю.
and no maps pointed home.
жодна мапа не вказувала додому.
his fists into his mouth
рота кулаками,
went treasure hunting on her own.
вирушила у свою пригоду.
with the creaky hallways
зі скрипучими коридорами,
she found a note,
вона знайшла записку,
left over from a time before towers,
ще до 11 вересня,
the girl who works in the darkroom."
в дівчину, яка працює в темній кімнаті".
picked up a camera again.
як мій тато знову взяв до рук камеру.
the Christmas lights,
різдвяними вогниками,
New York City's trees,
дерева Нью-Йорка,
from out of the darkest darks.
які блимали йому з пітьми.
across the country to follow a forest fire
потягнула його через усю країну,
it with his camera,
in the margins of my notebook.
на полях свого зошита.
мистецтво вираження.
the art of embracing.
смиренню.
the art of letting go.
прощенню.
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