12 Slam Poems for the Soul

You know those cheesy little poems you scratched in your notebook or the haikus you wrote in second grade? Don’t be quick to toss them out; it turns out that poetry isn’t so 19th century anymore.

Poetry has recently become popular again due to a YouTube called Button Poetry. It is now the biggest media outlet solely dedicated to showcasing spoken word poetry. Created by Sam Cook and Sierra DeMulder in 2011, the channel’s creation was designed to amplify the diverse voices of America and to hopefully bring more appreciation to this ancient art form.

Once confined to Jazz clubs in New York, San Francisco and Chicago, spoken word performances  are held nationwide at “poetry slam” events. Poets young and old strings words together with incredible emotional precision, touching on heavy topics like mental illness, racism, loneliness, sexuality, rape culture and gender.

These are the 12 most gut-wrenching, heart-shattering pieces that are sure to touch your soul.

1 All Lives Matter: 1800s Edition

2 Explaining My Depression To My Mother

3 Lost Voices

4 Thank You

5 To The Boys Who May One Day Date My Daughter

6 Dear Straight People

7 Cuz He s Black

8 Pi ata

9 Da Rules

10 To Be Black and Woman And Alive

11 Shrinking Women

12 Blue Genes