Poetry

From my new book, NOT A LOT OF REASONS TO SING, BUT ENOUGH:

Poem for the First Day of the Poetry Unit in Language Arts Class
Ten Responses to the Proposal To Overcome the Current Plague by Challenging It to a Duel
The Role of the Artist in Times of Authoritarian Brutality: A Panel Discussion

OLDER POEMS:

Here are a few videos of my poems. If you like them, find many more poems via my Youtube channel.

quicksand
a pragmatist's guide to magic
when they look right through you
matches
ten responses to the phrase "man up"
consent at 10,000 feet
handshakes (on letting go)
the art of taking the L
how to explain white supremacy to a white supremacist
the family business
tension and release
police make the best poets

ADDITIONAL VIDEOS

Here is a CLASSROOM-FRIENDLY version of “ten responses to the phrase ‘man up'” AKA a version where I don’t curse in the very first line.

Here is an artist talk I did with the White Bear Center for the Arts, especially for people new to spoken word.

Here is an hour-long virtual book preview, featuring poems and commentary on the process.

PRAISE FOR MY DEBUT BOOK

For my most recent book, click here.

“A Love Song, A Death Rattle, A Battle Cry is more than just a book; it is an experience. To say every poem was welcoming would be a lie. To say it gave me hope would be another lie. It gave me fight. It gave me a set of nails, a hammer painted pink, and a dare to build something I always thought was impossible. Go! Get your hands dirty.” -Hieu Minh Nguyen, author of This Way to the Sugar

“A poignant critique of power, privilege, allyship, identity and more, A Love Song, A Death Rattle, A Battle Cry grounds the abstract concepts of social justice in heart wrenching narrative poetry and brilliantly insightful raps. Guante eloquently pulls his readers into the text exposing the humanity in themselves and others while maintaining a standard of accountability – for both himself and his audience. Generously loaded with commentary on his structure, process and pedagogy, this collection is arsenal, consider yourself weaponized.” -Tish Jones, poet and executive director of TruArtSpeaks

It’s riveting, it’s blunt, and trust me, you will be smarter when you finish this book than when you started.” -Neil Hilborn, author of Our Numbered Days

Purchase A Love Song, A Death Rattle, A Battle Cry (available as a book, e-book, or audio book!) via Button Poetry.

Related:

Check out my Spoken Word Resource Hub, including the links below and even more.