The “ART” of Spoken Word

I'm a vegetarian, but in life I eat the meat and throw away the bones
Then comment on what I see authentically in poems

You see, I'm a poet, and though you may already know it
An artist needs a venue in which they may display their art
An artist exists to create
Creatively, expression manifests itself into art

Inspiration is only the start
Originality, sincerity, and delivery are three of the most important parts
Paint with your own brush
Write with your own pen

Speak with your own voice
And then, remember, this is art you're creating
And you do have a choice in what you bring to life and share with others
So dig down deep

Don't just be inspired
Inspire others
Poignantly, various levels of plagiarism is what this poem covers
And I'd destroy all copy machines if I had my druthers

I believe art should reflect solely the thoughts and feelings of the artist's heart
You can't copy that
In fact, that's a bad place to start
Yet, repeatedly, do I see the delivery of two or three folks stolen

Then spoken, inadvertently, but sometimes deliberately
And might I say quite passionately, by someone else, you see
Now, the art of spoken word is the perfected performance of poetry
So it's not absurd for one to take it seriously

It's more than poetry
We are painting orally
Observe, think, write, and practice furiously until you get it right, see
That's the process

The goal is to do it authentically
That's the key
Contribute what and how the good Lord put it in you
Yet, time after time and at many different venues, I witnessed the same thing

But Jackson Pollock didn't paint like Pablo Picasso
So a poet shouldn't perpetuate another poet's style via audio
Don't you know, I'd rather tiptoe on tax and catch polio
Than to put up with that kind of show

It grieves me
The sad thing is, most people don't even know
That in spoken word, similarities and styles spread like syphilis
For girls that have gone wild or free software on a broke man's computer files

The common code of where, I suppose, smiles
Don't get it twisted
If you just write and read to breathe, exhale, and relieve yourself
Then you don't need no help

But if you call yourself a poet, then you are held accountable to other poets
With all respect and humility, my goal is not just to criticize a problem I see
A lot, but rather to encourage this behavior to stop
Now, as far as what I despise, there's pride, plagiarism

Somebody else's delivery, and lies
Don't sell yourself short
God gave you something unique and complete
There ain't but one Johnny Cochran when it come to court

Likewise, of another sort, that could be you, in your realm
And in what you do
When you write, keep in mind that someone's listening to you
Be sure to offer insight and commentary that's true

When you speak, act like you're in a relationship
And bypass the desire to cheat
Don't just say something controversial and confuse it with deep
Or deceive the crowd as soon as you meet with hand gestures and stolen lectures

While you get loud, peep
Art is the substance of what an artist captures in just a glance
Whether you write, paint, build, or dance, cook, design, photograph, or romance
Art is what you are

Therefore, poetry is you and how you present it
Be yourself and will have no choice but to respect it
This here's good advice, except on neglected
The Poet X said it, with a series of nouns and verbs In a piece titled The Art of Spoken Word