Like..You Know... That Time When... You Know

When watching Taylor Mali's video word poem, I couldn't help but laugh at some of his lines. He mocks the current everyday conversation where people are constantly using "like" and "you know" in a way that isn't clear to everyone. People sometimes get caught in the notion that others know what they are going to say or know what they're saying so the person does not need to detail much. The mockery is displayed in a spoken representation and a textual representation. The textual manifestation isn't as useful to understanding the poem without the spoken piece. Alone, the text does not convey the tone the writer is trying to create, which can alter the meaning significantly. Reading the text word for word, the reader may read the words in a different voice than what the writer initially intended. For me, I don't think the visual was necessary, but it was creative and perhaps it would catch attention better than just having the poem spoken charismatically. But there still needs to be a voice behind it so there isn't any misinterpretations. Misinterpretations can really be a downer.