This blog was created to archive all of Sarah's poems in transcript and video form (at least, those that can be found online). Drop us a message if you find any mistakes/any missing poems.
Read the poems on the pages below. Link to videos can also be found in the individual pages.
Sarah's website can be found here
P.S. we are unaffiliated with Sarah in any way, this is entirely a fan curated account
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
I am trying really hard to remember the poem Sarah Kay performed about a tall girl who did a spoken poem and there was this great line towards teh end where she says something like "No *insert name of famous person* you are goregous " or something like that.If you could help me find which poem that was I will be forever grateful
It was a part of her TED talk in 2011. She was performing a poem by one of her students, Charlotte, who wrote a love poem to Anderson Cooper.
Hi! I think you mean a part of her poem “B”, also known as “If I should have a daughter.” It was one of the two poems she performed at her TED talk in 2011: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snNB1yS3IE
Hi! No, we don’t have that one yet. If someone has it and wants to submit it we’d be happy to post and credit them! Thank you for reading us 😘
She mentions something quite similar in An Origin Story but she usually performs it with Phil Kaye so I’m not sure?
It’s already transcripted and posted!
Thank you so much to everyone that is so kindly offering to transcript Sarah’s poems and send them to us.
We know that there are a lot of poets, immensely talented and brave poets that share their work online and through Tumblr, and we understand they want people to notice them, but unfortunately this blog is only dedicated to Sarah’s poetry. We don’t post or reblog works from anyone else.
Also, despite having received several petitions, we cannot review anyone’s poetry or book. We barely have the time to dedicate to this blog! But we thank you for your constant support!! 💕💕💕
The first love of my life never saw me naked: there was always a parent coming home in half an hour,
always a little brother in the next room. Always too much body and not enough time for me to show it. Instead, I gave him my shoulder, my elbow, the bend of my knee -I lent him my corners, my edges, the parts of me I could afford to offer - the parts I had long since given up trying to hide. He never asked for more. He gave me back his eyelashes, the back of his neck, his palms - we held each piece we were given like it was a nectarine that could bruise if we weren’t careful. We collected them like we were trying to build an orchid. And the spaces that he never saw, the ones my parents half labeled “private parts” when I was still small enough to fit all of myself and my worries inside a bathtub - I made up for that by handing over all the private parts of me. There was no secret I didn’t tell him, there was no moment I didn’t share - and we didn’t grow up, we grew in, like ivy wrapping, moulding each other into perfect yings and yangs. We kissed with mouths open, breathing his exhale into my inhale - we could have survived underwater or outer space. Breathing only of the breathe we traded, we spelled love, g-i-v-e, I never wanted to hide my body from him - if I could have I would have given it all away with the rest of me - I did not know it was possible. To save some thing for myself. Some nights I wake up knowing he is anxious, he is across the world in another woman’s arms - the years have spread us like dandelion seeds - sanding down the edges of our jigsaw parts that used to only fit each other. He drinks from the pitcher on the night stand, checks the digital clock, it is 5am - he tosses in sheets and tries to settle, I wait for him to sleep. Before tucking myself into elbows and knees reach for things I have long since given up.
This is a submission, thank you so much!!
Hi, we’d love to read some of your great poems, but we receive so many submissions that we cannot afford it. We don’t post other people’s poems eithers, given this is a Sarah Kay’s blog. However please share your poetry with the world!