- Hello, Platform, my
name is Yrsa Daley-Ward,
and I'm the author of the
poetry collection "Bone".
I'm gonna give you a sneak preview today,
and this poem is called Poetry.
Nobody is saying anything
at the dinner table tonight,
because everyone is too angry.
The only noise is the sound
of fine silver on bone china
and other people's
children playing outside,
but this will give you poetry.
There is no knife in the kitchen
sharp enough to cut the tension,
and your grandmother's hands are shaking.
The meat and yam stick in your throat,
and you do not dare even to whisper,
"Please pass the salt", but
this will give you poetry.
Your father is breathing out of his mouth.
He is set to beat the
spark out of you tonight
for reasons he isn't
even sure of himself yet.
You will come away bruised.
You will come away bruised,
but this will give you poetry.
The bruising will shatter.
The bruising will shatter
into black diamond.
No one will sit beside you in class.
Maybe your life will work,
most likely it won't at first,
but that will give you poetry.
I am inspired by the everyday,
I'm inspired by the people closest to me,
and people I don't even know.
And I might be people watching
and decide to write a poem about that.
Or I might be writing a poem
about something my
friend has gone through,
or something I've been through usually,
but that's what inspires
me, real-life events.
What advice would I give
to my 16-year-old self
or somebody who wants to write poetry?
I would say, just write what you feel,
let it come out, free
write in the morning.
Wake up and just start
writing without editing
or thinking about what you have to say
without judging it,
just let it all come out
for a good 10 to 15 minutes,
and you'll get some amazing stuff.
That's how I do, and that's when I write
my strongest things, I think,
when I'm not worrying about it too much,
and it just all comes out.
Thank you so much for watching.
You can find me on
Instagram @yrsadaleyward,
or Twitter @yrsadaleyward.
Goodbye.
(upbeat music)
