“At nine years old, I transform into things I’ve never been before...” Phil Kaye, author of the collection Date & Time, forthcoming from Button Poetry in September, reads his poem “Before the Internet.”

“Most people have no idea that tragedy and silence often have the exact same address.” In this video, Rudy Francisco reads his poem “Complainers” from his debut poetry collection, Helium (Button Poetry, 2017), on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

“Poems ask you to...really think empathetically, compassionately, and deeply about things.” Aaron Coleman, whose chapbook, St. Trigger (Button Poetry, 2016), won the 2015 Button Poetry Prize, talks about his writing interests and the power of poetry as a tool that can shift everyday language and change perspectives.

“This joke that I heard in Arabic hurts just as much in English, and French, and in any other dialect.” In this video, Emi Mahmoud reads her poem “How to Translate a Joke” for Button Poetry Live at Camp Bar in Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

“We are human. We know this because we can look down on almost anything.” In this video animated by Andrés Fernández Cordón, Meghann Plunkett reads her poem “Human.” The video was one of the featured submissions for the inaugural Button Poetry Video Contest.

“Anything wet and eager enough to consume the skin can be called a baptism.” In this video from Button Poetry, Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib reads “Ode to Prince” from his debut poetry collection, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much (Button Poetry/Exploding Pinecone Press, 2016).

“But what I really want to say is we gone fall into the night like we fell into each other and it won't hurt no more.” Mahogany L. Browne, author of the poetry collection Smudge (Button Poetry, 2016), reads “Redbone Shames the Devil” for the Button Poetry Live series in June 2016.