"See, all that we have here is all that we've always had
We have jealousy, curses, tenderness and gifts
But the plight of a people who have forgotten their myths
And imagine that somehow now is all that there is
Is a sorry plight. All isolation and worry.
The life in your veins is godly, heoric.
You were born for greatness
You can believe that, you can know it."
Kate Tempest is what we would call a slam poet. But her poetry takes this genre to sublime heights redefining it into something more.
Hers is a strident voice in spoken-word poetry, demanding that there is divinity to be found in the mundane, wonder in the everyday - if one just looks for it.
This exciting performer/poet won the prestigious Ted Hughes Prize for innovation in poetry.
She combines a spellbinding delivery in a cadence that reminds one of the zeal of a televangelist. Thankfully there's no offering basked being passed around here, though, and the only godliness that she preaches is the divinity she finds within each of us.
She plumbs the depths of the grime and the grit of urban life, and finds sparks of awe, beauty and eternity in places where most see sadness, decay and hopelessness.
Her potent charismatic presence, her combination of poetry, storytelling, music and rhythm has created a massive fan-base of followers.
Watch and listen, and prepare to be amazed: