fripodding and reciting: “icarus airlines” – taylor mali

Technically, this post I had planned to write last week. And I also planned to be all poetic about it, because if you are familiar with this artist’s name, you will know he is one of the great poets of the day. His name is Taylor Mali (pronounced like “Molly”) and I first heard him on Def Poetry Jam some years ago. Awesome performer of the spoken word genre. And I’ve been a fan ever since.

Unfortunately, as I tend to do, my interests shift from time to time and I moved into the film making world and put poetry to the side. Not that I ever stopped, I just didn’t pursue it as much as I once did, you know? So that means I stopped listening and reading some of my favorite poets like Mali and Billy Collins whom I mentioned earlier this week.

I was planning on writing a tribute poem about Taylor Mali, helping to revive my poetic juices that I’ve felt have been dormant for a bit longer than I would’ve liked. This explains the poems I posted this past week (even the poems I didn’t post). But I had lifted my “stop buying music so I can save money” ban just so I could purchase Mali’s spoken word audiobook on iTunes.

Icarus Airlinesis a collection of some of his recent poems. According to iTunes, it was available for download early this year, but apparently it was released a few years ago. Regardless, the poems are still relevant. And although I first knew him to be a comedic poet, he definitely has a serious side. A side that can move you like an 18-wheeler. What I didn’t know about him, he explain through his work. About his late first wife, and probably some things about his current wife. Poems about family and social events. And even a poem about Pluto. And of course, poetry about teaching. This is the dude responsible for the poem What Teachers Make.

I highly recommend this guy and this album to anyone with in an interest in poetry, especially performance poetry. Just a disclaimer here, there is some explicit language, so there’s a warning for those with virgin ears. If you’d like to know more about him, check out his website.