Transcript:
Mic Ting, I looove your poems.
They're so...different, you know?
Don't get me wrong - those other poets were amazing.
But, they just keep talking about stuff that happened way black -- back then and
Your story is just so you, this Oriental struggle of yours is something I can totally get over -- I mean behind.
It just sits softer in my mouth, you know?
Like my gums don't swell with guilt when I say your name,
And your name, Mic, M-I-C, like microphone is soo clever.
I, too, love taking a person's name and turning it into an inanimate object.
Like, when I call my Black friend dog, but...all the dogs I've had are dead, so I think the analogy still works,
But you would know better than me, you poet.
Whipping up your story into something I can consume without the burden of shame sitting like knife in my stomach,
More poets, should ...model... their work after yours,
Personally, I just love how you've taken your hardships and packaged them into these cute little poetic devices.
And you're Asian, so it's not like you've reaaally gone through anything that challenging.
You and I are here for the same reason.
For the performance.
To be seen for sight's sake and
While we're on the topic of creative expression, you'll agree with me here, um
I just think that there's a white way and a wrong way -- sorry sorry,
A right way and a wong way -- sorry, look,
Between you and me, I'm just tired of being unsettled by things I'm not really responsible for, you know, and
If I'm going to be the target, I just wanna be entertained, okay,
I think I'm entitled...
To a good show - for starters:
Can we please stop blaming all of us for the rise of white supremacy?
Um, I voted for Hillary, okay? And she's not...
A supremacist - or
Can we cool it with the incessant reminders of this country's history of this country's history of racial injustice? Like,
Where's the poetry in that?
Instead, how bout a beautiful metaphor of how you turned your two-cent strategy
Into a million-dollar perspective!
Or, one of those nice list poems of all the ways you're actually going to better yourself.
I just wanna hear how you overcame - not who, or what, or where you came from!
Listen, we get it.
The colored child died, will die, is dying a thousand deaths,
But that's not my fault!
I didn't pull the trigger. I didn't conquer this land.
Don't get mad at me for judging. You asked me to, remember?
Don't place the knife and cutting board in my hands and expect me not to make a meal out of this,
And what is a poetry slam if not a feast for those of us hungry for the scraps your trauma left behind?
So thank you, Mic, for offering up this pain that's so much easier to swallow.
I hope you wear this ten like a collar -- I mean a halo.
You're a good boy -- I mean poet.
You'll pass along my suggestions to your friends, won't you?
I'm too scared -- shy to tell them
Myself.