"A Bird Made of Birds" | Sarah Kay

Jun 21, 2019

"The universe has already written the poem you were planning on writing," says Sarah Kay, quoting her friend, poet Kaveh Akbar. Performing "A Bird Made of Birds," she shares how and where she finds poetry. (Kay is also the host of TED's podcast "Sincerely, X." Listen on the Luminary podcast app at luminary.link/ted)

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hi it's Sarah Kay here you're about to hear a poem by me recorded at Ted 2019 I hope you enjoy it I also have some exciting news I'm the new host of another podcast from Ted called sincerely acts each episode features powerful ideas and stories from Anonymous guests here from a former cult member rewriting the script of her life or a woman who unearths a hard truth about her birth father through DNA technology and a lot more

you can hear sincerely acts on the luminary podcast app find out more at luminary dot link / Ted that's luminary dot link2sd TD thanks for listening Guardian insurance was built on a radical idea to do the right thing over 150 years later that founding principal has never changed that's why they helped nearly 27 million people look after what they love most with industry leading insurance

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I have a friend

name Cava Akbar who's a fellow poet and Ava found this photo on line of the anatomical heart of a blue whale that scientists had hung on a hook from the ceiling which is how they were able to observe that the heart of a blue whale is big enough that a person can stand up fully inside of it and when kava shared this photo online he did so with the caption this is another reminder

that the Universe has already written the poem you were planning on writing when I first saw that I was horrified I was like come on man I'm trying to invent new metaphors I'm trying to discover beauty that hasn't been discovered yet what do you mean the universe is always going to get there before me and I know this isn't a uniquely poet problem but on days when the world feels especially big or especially

the bowl or specially full of grandeur those are the days when I feel

what do I possibly have to contribute to all of this

not long ago I saw this video that some of you may have seen it makes the internet rounds every couple of months there these birds that are called starlings and they fly in what's called a murmuration which is generally just a big cloud of birds and someone happened to catch a quick video on their phone of these starlings flying and at first it's just a amorphous blob and then there's a moment where the birds shift and they form the shape

of a starling in the sky and as soon as I saw it I was like the universe is already written the poem you were planning on writing

except for the first time it didn't fill me with despair instead I thought okay maybe it's not my job to invent something new maybe instead it's my job to listen to what the universe is showing me

and to keep myself open to what the universe offers so that when it's my turn

I can hold something to the light just for a moment just for as long as I have

the universe has already written the poem that you were planning on writing and this is why you can do nothing but point at the flock of Starlings whose bodies rise and fall in inherited choreography swarming the sky in a sweeping curtain that for one blistering moment forms the

will shape of a giant bird flapping against the sky it is why your mouth forms Uhn oh but is not a gasp but rather the beginning of oh of course as in of course the heart of a blue whale is as large as a house with Chambers tall enough to fit a person standing of course a fig

as possible when a lady wasp lays her eggs inside a flower dies and decomposes the fruit evidence of her transformation sometimes the poem is so bright you're silly language will not stick to it sometimes the poem is so true nobody will believe you I am a bird made of birds

this blue heart a house you can stand up inside of I am dying here

inside this flower

it is okay it is what I was put here to do take this fruit it is what I have to offer it may not be first or ever best but it is the only way to be sure that I lived at all

for more TED Talks go to ted.com

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