Every great story has a beginning, middle and end. Not necessarily in that order.
And that’s really all I think poetry is to a poet- Putting the right words in the right order to reach your audience with your story. Many of us think of poetry as being unapproachable, full of big words nobody understands- a cup of tea for a very niche audience. Well, performance poets Phil Kaye and Sarah Kay clearly begged to differ when they came to Singapore on their 2019 International tour. With poems, old and new, the dynamic duo showed us that the essence of modern spoken word poetry is not in fancy language, but simple words that paint stories for every audience.
Local poet Cheyenne Alexandria Phillips opened the show with a few of her own creations. A veteran to the poetry scene in Singapore, Cheyenne offers custom-poetry-writing services through her online blog. Her stand-out poem of the night was an unexpected piece about conserving the Hundred-Acre wood. Yes, the same forest that inspired the home of Winnie the Pooh!
While Cheyenne continues to give back to the trees by raising environmental awareness via the spoken word, Phil and Sarah’s poems mostly revolve around their personal experiences. The two had clearly different styles when it came to their poems, but still managed a fluid flow to their set by alternating between their individual acts and the two duets they performed together. Sarah with her quirky quips and Phil with his dead-pan humour, the duo made efforts to establish a personal connection with their audience. Wearing their hearts on their sleeves, their poems dictate their experiences with past relationships and familial struggles: A grandparent who suffered from dementia; a breakup that happened at Whole Foods; his parents’ divorce. With wit and finesse, the two weave their experiences into words, stringing their audience along on their journey.
For the first of two duets, Phil and Sarah performed The Origin Story, an all-time fan favourite explaining the series of coincidences that led the two to bond over their mutual love for poetry. Indeed, the two soon found that they share an eerie number of things in common, from homophone last names and their “Japa-Jew”(Japanese-Jewish) heritage, to siblings with the same names as each other. One can only call it pure fate that the two met at their college’s talent show and formed the formidable duo they are today.
Despite the similarities they share, Phil and Sarah made it clear that they are they are “never ever going to” date each other, because “love is not what you expect”. Our OTP closed their show with “When Love Arrives” a poem they wrote together about what they thought love would be as teenagers. “But when we fell in love, it was nothing that we were planning on,” said Sarah. The poem explores the reality of what love truly means, revealing that beyond the sunshine and rainbows lie differences that we overcome to recommit.
Speaking to the opening lines of Phil’s poem, “Every great story has a beginning, middle and end, not necessarily in that order. We are all great stories.” As the night drew to a close, the duo’s poems began resurfacing in our minds, a line, a phrase, a pause… the words seemed to reorganize themselves, painting unique pictures for each of us to understand. But beyond that, Phil and Sarah’s poetry inspired an epiphany in each of us, that poetry is not about big words, but small, powerful ones that make a difference. With such sweet sensitivity, it is no wonder why Phil and Sarah are two of the best-selling poets world-wide. We thank them for their wonderful performance and we look forward to the next time they visit Singapore.