Commentary on "Penny for Your Thoughts"

Our group chose a poetry piece from Def Poetry Jam entitled "Penny for Your Thoughts." Part of what I think works so well in this piece is the element of surprise. First, the poet surprised me because he's a big white guy and doesn't fit the stereotypical image of what I have experienced with spoken word poetry. The spoken word artists I have heard have all been people of color or more alternative looking white people. Second, his topic is surprising. His entire poem is about the sexiness he finds in a woman's mind, rather than her body. With this, he again defies stereotypes of this type of poetry: he's not angry or victimized.

While the surprise element is certainly a large part of what makes this poem good, I think his use of language is amazing and makes the poem great. His ability to use very sensual language typically used to describe the body to instead describe his attraction to the mind is wonderful. It confuses your head just enough to really have to pay attention and be pleasantly surprised by what he is saying.

I think it qualifies as both a poem and a performance piece in that it is rhythmic, has an amazing use of poetic language, and draws strength from being performed rather than just read. However, I think the performance aspect could be improved. I though the poet was a bit stiff, especially at the beginning, and the piece could be more powerful if he were able to perform his words to more fully invoke the images they create in our minds.