Shane Koyczan - My favorite poet

You know how sometimes the first rain on a summer's day can surprise us? Take us out of comfort into wetness, and heal us in the process. Shane does the same kind of thing, making us go from laughter to pathos on a rollercoaster curve that almost always shocks me with the operatic intensity of his verse woven narratives.

When I first heard him he was only available at Poetry Slam contests. Now he's on the web, he's published books so his work is a lot more accessible now, but I still remember writing down his verse from bad auditorium recordings. For some reason this made it even more precious, like light harvested from a crucible ...

He's the real deal not to be missed at any cost, and at every performance as he weaves words into emotional tsunamis, I experience the singular fear and elation of being swept to a crescendo followed by the vertigo as you fall back into silence ... and find awakened in you suddenly ... the need to look for what you've missed in a lifetime of sleepwalking through dreams and pain ...