The Law of Words
posted Tuesday February 18th, 2020
I’m proud of my girls every day — that should go without saying — but Sophie really blew me away this weekend with her performance at Shoo Flies.
Shoo Flies is the little sister of Bar Flies, a live reading series I co-produce featuring “true stories — and drinks” held monthly at a bar in downtown Phoenix. Shoo Flies is Bar Flies minus the drinks, plus a group of teens writing and performing their stories. The prompt for our first-ever boot camp was “stranger,” and Sophie was the first to sign up. I’m not typically into poetry, but that’s what she wrote for her true story, and like I said, I’m proud.
Here is her piece, unedited, as she performed it live onstage at Crescent Ballroom:
THE LAW OF WORDS
What is going on with the laws of words
The words are kind to the people with disabilities
The people the words
Words speak to yourself
And what they say
The words can be bad
What is the law of words
The words like the r word
The musical that my highschool did was Hairspray
I went to the directors and say words can be bad take one out
The laws of words can be tough in some ways how they think how they wright
The laws of words how they explain to the world
How i control with the laws of words they have the words in the life of words
How the words can’t talk to yourself use the mind to you and the world behind you and have the law of words to yourself and how the life comes and goes and the law how the people say
words in the law of words when you think the law of words you have the mind set in the future and detour has words that can be good we just did Rent and words in the show can be risky in the laws of words can be hard for people with down syndrome to be thoughtful to yourself and
other people can hear the air of words they listen to the laws of words and how they listen to it and they have the rights to the words of the laws of words and how they think to yourself
confidence to the mind these words can be bad what i think what is in my head it hurts what is this pain in my body WHAT IS THIS in my head in my body in my heart ugg what is this pain?
Your words, my words our words. What is this pain in my body and my head how do i get out of it what feelings do you have in the laws of words what is this feeling how do i get out of here
Wow!!! Amazing.
Wow! What a great poem! It’s so cool that Sophie wrote and performed it Shoo Flies.
Wow, just wow. Reading and rereading this and loving it more and more. Hooray, Sophie.
Her words take my breath away… Thank you for sharing this Amy…
Sophie’s powerful words pierce the heart.
Sophie’s passion and awareness of the world are evident.. I hope this is widely read.
What a wonderful poem Sophie wrote.
From one poet to another: super proud of you, Soph. I can hear the music in your words.
Rock on Sophie. Wise beyond your years.
That is activist poetry.
And poetry from the heart, of course.
Such chutzpah and moxie and all the awesome.
When it got to the Hairspray and Rent part …
“how the life comes and goes and what the people say”.
When I was Sophie’s age I was coming to grips with the apparent lawlessness of words – their anarchy.
Shoo Flies really makes this happen. They are a gutsy and honest and vulnerable group.
“And words in the shows can be risky”.
The last two verses/stanzas.
They remind that WORDS HURT. And you respect that hurt and try to mitigate/prevent it.
Go Sophie! Poetry!