written word, spoken word

[asakiyume]

Sherwood Smith asked me some really interesting questions that The Inconvenient God raised for her, and she posted the questions and answers over on the Book View Cafe blog (here).

I think my favorite question was the one about whether writing words down chains them. The technology of writing is really wonderful and makes miracles possible, in terms of sharing and transmission, but the spoken word has real power too. I love thinking about their different strengths.

And speaking of spoken word (heh), okrablossom linked me to another beautiful spoken word poem, "Rise," by Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, this time in collaboration with Aka Niviâna, an Inuk poet. Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner is from the Marshall Islands, which are gravely threatened by rising sea levels, and many of her poems deal with climate change. Aka Niviâna is from Kalaallit Nunaat--Greenland--whose melting glaciers create the rising sea levels. Her poems often deal with the legacy of colonization.

Their words, combined with the breathtaking images, is really powerful (video (6 minutes) and text of the poem available here).

--Sister of ice and snow, I'm coming to you
--Sister of ocean and sand, I welcome you

Comments

[sovay]

that life in all forms demands
the same respect we all give to money

Thank you for linking this.

[asakiyume]

You've very welcome--the thanks go back to okrablossom. It blew me away.

[sartorias]

Oh, wow, that is powerful.

[asakiyume]

I was actually in tears--they were like long-lost sisters. I watched a couple of the videos about the making of the film, and there was this picture from when they first met. They hadn't known each other before the collaboration:

[sartorias]

Oh, that is so lovely.

[wayfaringwordhack]

The poem and video were both beautiful and wrenching.

[asakiyume]

I'm so glad you watched--yeah, that was my feeling exactly.