skonen_blades

Hey there. I've seen a lot of poetry slammers deliver poems about their sex or their race but as a white male, I can't really do that. My friend Jessica said that I should do a poem based on the inequality of the tall people in society. For laughs but deliver it ultra seriously. I thought it was a good idea. See what you think.

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I don't see a lot of tall people here. Not a lot of tall people in Vancouver but hopefully you’ll get what I’m talking about.

I didn’t want to write this poem. But I had to. Every one of my people has this poem in them and this is mine.

Jolly Green Giant. Moose. Big guy. Stretch.

These are names people have given me and my kind over the years.

People are all like “where are you from? What's your heritage? What's your ancestry?” and inside they’re saying why don't you go back to where you came from? Where’s that? Did you mean go back to Norway? Go back to Scandanavia? Go back to Sweden, Holland, Denmark, or the Netherlands?

I was BORN here. Don't speak to me like my ears are so far away from your mouth. I'm not that much taller than you when you take the sky into account. This is the lottery of genetics.

I remember one time I was going out with a girl who was about 5 feet tall and her mother took her aside and told her that I’d be fun for a while but that she should try to keep in mind that someone closer to her own height would be better when she was ready to settle down, that babies with me would hurt her.

In this society, my height defines me.

You’ll find most tall people you meet are gentle because they need to be. We are sick of scaring people. We speak softly and reasonably all the time because we want to make sure that you know that we’re no threat.

Look, my bones might be longer than yours but they're made of the same stuff. We’re not so different. I also think about my rent, my love life, my work deadlines, and my mortality. Just like you.

I SUCK at basketball. And people are surprised. They take one look at me and assume.

But I’m through bowing down to society’s demands. I see too many of my kind with bent backs and apologetic tones of voice as they try to fit into a mold that this culture has crafted for them. For every head that’s hit a chandelier or door frame, for every person out there who doesn’t need a ladder to change a light bulb, for every person who’s been the object of ridicule and suffers silently wishing that they could just fit in, I say this.

Stand up straight. Stride amongst your lessers with the speed you’re used to. Use your height to your advantage. Inspire others to do the same.

From now on when someone asks me how the weather is up here, I will say it's clear and beautiful and I can see for miles.

(hold up hand to signify a height of about six and a half feet tall)

I can't wait for the day when I see a sign that says you have to be THIS tall to ride this ride.

(leave the stage near tears)



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