Sunday, February 26, 2012

Fathers

I don't know if any of you have ever watched Def Jam Poetry or heard of it. I believe that it can add a lot to our discussions; each poet writes beautifully and purposefully, reciting their original poems in front of millions of people. The show is now cancelled, however its legacy lives on. For these poets, memorizing their lines is unnecessary and these lines are ingrained in them. You can hear the power and pride in each of their voices.

These two poets both speak about their fathers, 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTZrPVqR0D8
and the emotional void that was left in them after their fathers left. This here is the poetry I have always missed.  I remember watching this show in my 7th grade class and just loving it. Each poet brings a new issue to the table and each captivates your heart. J. Ivy (the second video) says "I try to get you out of my mind, but I cant get you off of my face". His father leaving broke him emotionally and even though he tries to forget his father he knows this is impossible. His father is in his blood. 

 I recommend you all to watch a few of these videos on youtube and fall in love with it like I have.


1 comment:

  1. First of all, this "poetry" is intriguing as it serves as an in-between for rap and poetry.

    Moving on to the actual subject of the lyric. Fathers. Families play an important role in people's lives. They can be one of the most heart-wrenching or heart-warming topics to talk about. In this case, his father obviously inflicted damage on his family as he beat his mother, and did drugs, forcing the family to flee from him. However, he is still J. Ivy's father, and therefore, J. Ivy could never let himself forget the man who caused him all of this harm.

    Furthermore, besides the captivating nature of this poetry, it serves as therapy for the poets as it helps them get over their problems. In this case, poetry helped J. Ivy work through all of the damage that his father had inflicted on he and his family throughout his life until he reached the point where he could say and truly believe,

    "When I get to heaven,
    I'm going to jump in your arms,
    we're going to kick back like when I was little, and watch the Bears game.
    I love you dad."

    These thoughts were not going through J. Ivy's head as his father was beating his mother, missing from his life, and doing drugs, but he has had time now, and more importantly, he has had poetry to allow himself to forgive his father for all of his flaws, and once again, simply love him.

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