Last week Saturday I was one of a great many poets and musicians at the St. Louis event held for the second annual worldwide 100 Thousand Poets for Change. There were over 800 such events held in over 115 countries including Egypt, Afghanistan, Serbia, and Sudan. Poets were recorded streaming live around the globe to highlight calls for political, social and environmental change. Stanford University archived the recordings. Musicians were usually invited and sometimes artists. Event organizers had freedom to develop their events as they wanted as a peaceful “demonstration/celebration to promote serious change.”

I am impressed by our St. Louis talent. For the first time I heard “spoken word poets” and felt the power of their dramatic presentations, which often include singing or a sing-song way of speaking. Hearing any poem read aloud well is a beautiful experience in itself and this made me want to start attending some of our local poetry readings. I feel that poetry is a type of lifewriting that really speaks of the soul.

Here’s an example of spoken word poetry by Tabia Yapp of St. Louis, from a slam contest.

Below is my own contribution to 100 Thousand Poets for Change. And for anyone who thinks I’m not talking about them, I am. This is for all of us.

The Lost Ones