"Tony Steinberg: Brave Seventh-Grade Viking Warrior," by TAYLOR MALI

[shallowbthygame]

Why do I always get allergies when I listen to his poetry?

[bamfkejk]

12 times I watched this. 12 times a tear dropped down my cheek.

[aziaandyancyarebored]

That was awesome

[TwilightFan2]

That was absolutely amazing. I loved it. Thank you Mr. Mali.

[theresabaum]

I actually just cried. What a beautiful poet.

[Jessi181]

this is beautiful! :)

[lilharris802]

This video always makes me sad

[Poplopo]

Oh this made me cry :(

[oxonameless]

I had a debate in class today about whether or not computers should reside in an educational setting. I think that teaching should always be allowed to transcend physical spaces, and reach the minds of people across the world, reach the minds of those you would never meet.

Mr. Mali is a teacher of mine, and I have never met him.

[xZOMBEHZx]

Manly tears have been shed this day....

[dand3100]

yeah i need to be warned for stuff like that

[PsychoticPhey]

this is agonizing in its sincerity. your life has been amazing in pain and beauty-though the line between the two is slim. thank you for writing this, for posting it, for having the courage to speak your truth and a thank you to all the wonderful teachers i've had-though Mr. Mali was not one of them.

[dawntigga]

Without fail I cry every single time, it's just beautiful

[Bethygivesyouhuggz]

Very moving, thankyou.

[jcs1122]

That was beautiful, Mr. Mali. Thank you.

[cherokeehernandez]

@Goth3m3

"God" often refers to the universe.

[widgetboy]

Beautiful, but right angles don't have varying degrees.

[vitalsentiment]

I had been trying to cry for at least a month. Thank you.

[sammincheva]

I didn't believe the comments saying people had started crying. Having watched the video, I apologize.

[Goth3m3]

Don't believe in god... But an amazing poem none-the-less.

[ChemicalWarrior74D]

to go away. Taylor, thank you. You have been a great inspiration and your words have touched me deeply. Keep the great work coming.

SGT Donald Kimbrell

Texas Army National Guard

[ChemicalWarrior74D]

I'm a 24 year old combat veteran, tours to both Iraq and Afghanistan. I graduated from a small school in Texas back in 2005. Through my years of high school, I would be involved as much as I could in everything to include UIL Poetry. Taylor Mali was, and still is, one of my heroes. While deployed, I was blown up, shot at, and lost a great friend of mine. I came home with PTSD. While going through my old stuff I found my old poetry binder. As I read Mr Mali's poems the pain and fear I felt seemed

[TheGuerrillaPoet]

Oh my god....Taylor, your work is ingenious.....thank you.

[ZACCYBABY4EVA]

Actually crying here

[s4njuro]

WOW

[loverofbooks111]

my English teacher showed us this in class last year.... everyone was crying. it is a well loved poem in our class.

[MrLycanthropy]

It's unfortunate that such a brilliant writer that offers such a great influence for our society happens to believe in a magical man in the sky...I guess even the best of people have flaws...

[TheSparrowhawk13]

@MrLycanthropy it is unfortunate that someone so well spoken can't think of a more respectful way to refer to another person's beliefs than "magical man int he sky." Really now, can we all graduate from the elementary school name calling? just cause you don't believe it doesn't mean you have to count it as a flaw. Faith of any kind, be it in God, science or magic is a strength and any who disagree are fooling themselves. Please be more respectful in the future. thank you

[MrLycanthropy]

@TheSparrowhawk13 Belief in Science is not "Faith" Faith is supporting something that has no intelligent or visible reason to support it. Faith is saying "yeah it makes no god damn sense *pun intended* but I am gonna believe it anyways". Which in no way shape or form follows a belief in science. Sorry, I don't respect ignorance.

[TheSparrowhawk13]

@MrLycanthropy "Faith: 1 complete trust or confidence in someone or something 2. strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. 3. a strongly held belief or theory." None of this mentions Faith riding on something "not making sense." Faith is having confidence in or "believing" in something regardless of sense. Calling it foolish saying one cannot have faith in science and not respecting people who have it shows your narrow mindedness.

[MrLycanthropy]

@TheSparrowhawk13 When you speak of Religious "faith" you aren't talking about 1 or 3. Your talking about 2, which is the idiotic one. Believing in something based on apprehension rather than proof, apprehension meaning you'd rather believe it total batshit nonsense because of the fear that if it's true *even though it's about 99.99999999% unlikely* you would still rather follow that then common sense because of the horrors that come if your wrong....that's not only foolish but cowardly too.

[TheSparrowhawk13]

@MrLycanthropy I was speaking of ALL TYPES of faith as I have REPEATEDLY stated, you DOLT! you have missed the point entirely; simply, all faith all definitions are valid. so, you have no problem with having faith in say science, but as soon as one brings up God they are an idiot? think; a man says "god do not let me drown" and a boat saves him. To that person, who sees god as a moving real force , logically it was god who sent the boat that day. That is not bat shit from a logical standpoint.

[MrLycanthropy]

@TheSparrowhawk13 All faith is not valid, if you want me to respect your faith blindly simply because your stupid enough to follow it then fine. I will. And tomorrow morning I'm starting a faith where you kidnap 9-year old girls, force them to fuck horses on camera and then throw them into the river weighted by cinder blocks. And you better fucking respect it even if you don't like it because it's my faith and as you've clearly stated faith is something that has to be respected Right?..idiot.

[TheSparrowhawk13]

@MrLycanthropy No, that is not right because what you described is not faith. You are either trolling or an idiot. People like you and the fundamentalist Christians are what is wrong with the world today; too caught up in your own twisted views on reality to respect anything outside of your own world. You, in the end, are no better than the Westboro Baptist Church. Faith is believing in something bigger than yourself. I respect that you don't believe in God. Go in peace and don't be a dick.

[MrLycanthropy]

@TheSparrowhawk13 No the behavior itself is not faith, but faith would be an excuse to commit such atrocities. Just like how people of faith believe non human creatures are somehow ours by right, and that gays shouldn't be allowed to get married. Religion does horrible things, THAT is the deep point that you don't get. Have a happily ignorant life :)

[TheSparrowhawk13]

@MrLycanthropy Look, I am not asking you to agree with his faith on God, only to respect it as what he and others believe, but what you have done is be belligerent and a douche bag and have argued from a point that I INVALIDATED WITH A SIMPLE REFERENCE TO THE DICTIONARY! You are showing how narrow minded and intolerant people have become of one another and more than that are only making the lines that divide people more distinct rather than MATURING THE FUCK UP and showing another HUMAN RESPECT.

[MrLycanthropy]

@TheSparrowhawk13 Why the fuck wouldn't you have faith in boats instead of god? That is the problem, any random act can be attributed to an all powerful space daddy with nothing more than blind ignorance. You did not invalidate my argument by grabbing the dictionary because any intelligent person can tell you there is a huge difference in the term faith from science to religion. It doesn't mean the same thing, which is why the dictionary sections it off by number. You can't use it the same.

[yertlemcfuzz]

i hope this is a true story, absolutely moving

[RyukoAkari]

@yertlemcfuzz I'm sure it is.

[zirtavia]

Crying!

[lightsonme]

how do you do that with your words? when did u know that your words were powerful?

[justbeiiingme29]

@lightsonme

you kinda just know. you have this need to write, like some people need to draw, or sing, or talk. the first words just come to you, and then you just keep writing 'till your hand's cramped and your vision's blury, 'till you've gotten it all out.

but whatever you do, it's never as good as you know it could be. and that's how you know

[TheMyrrdhin]

Every time I watch this, it always brings me to tears. It's very powerful and moving.

[arcturus0starwatcher]

Hats off to you Taylor Mali and the amazing seventh grader Tony Steinberg. (And your quote about old vikings dying with swords in their hands will be going up on our wall in the English classroom at Aragon High)

[MrBimslice]

stumbled upon this by accident, now i find myself stuck in this chair untill i have seen every single one of Taylor Mali's clips. Thank you for the sore ass, Thank you for the burning eyes. Thank you for you!

[victorgtz]

Sweet Jesus. Choked me up.

[stormfan25]

2 people have no hearts because there is no way that you could not get chills from this

[boomboompowish]

.. i got chills. holy. :|

[mrdrprofmack]

Apparently he changed the name for the poem... in another video he talks about a seventh-grade student, Toby Stein, who died of leukemia.

[nico6510]

@mrdrprofmack

you gotta be serious leukemia is blood cancer and maybe he changed the name because the family wanted him too.

[KappaCutie]

So moving! this must be the little boy he is dedicating the 1000 inspired teacher's mission to. (If he inspires 1000 people to be teachers he is cutting his hair and donating it to Locks of Love)

[noobzorz47]

Awesome Poem

[xxxHikaruxKaoruxxx]

Oh c'mon, who in their right mind would dislike this??

Beautiful, this is just too amazing

[esama2]

Aaaand we're crying again. :_)

[erinmtdew]

wow oh wow. you make me realize that the world is such a bigger place, and my problems are just not so huge.

[Silverexx]

I did not cry but I can admit that I was at the point of tears! The second I found out about the boy chills ran down my back! Cause I have known what is like to have a friend with such an illness.

[Firenzzo]

Sorry, I don't get it. How is this inspirational again?

I'm not trying to be an ignorant douche. I just can't get it. Really.

[InkStainedWord]

@Firenzzo

It's inspirational because he is demonstrating that death can effect people of all ages and that children with their innocence can understand this. It is inspirational because 12 boys shaved their heads and forgot about what people with think just so that they're classmate would feel happy again.

[nightwolf117610]

@Firenzzo Its about finding a sense of brotherhood, even at a young age, that binds us together in a memorable moment. Even in death, these kids will learn what it truly means to have someone they care about taken away, and the spiritual feeling of honoring their brother's passing. Its inspirational because of the rarity... and the fact that no one honors a death like these kids did.

[sakuramana91]

this was beautiful, you truly have a gift Mr. Mali. Thank you for sharing it 

[mfl728]

holy sh**.

[kay11d]

wow! just cried, his poetry is amazing

[dmvic]

Mr. Mali. I'm an university teacher. One of the major programs in which I'm teaching is PE. I find your work very inspirational and since I've discovered your work one week ago I'm now officially your fan.

Thank you for your work!

Ivan from Bulgaria.

[KageHikarii]

This poem makes me cry every time I watch it, but it remains my favorite poem of all time. It's perfect, Mr. Mali. Thank you. Thank you.

[snailbytrees]

two years ago i heard this slam poem at my school, and a year later i won second place in a slam competition.

thank you Taylor Mali

[IEBakker]

Ooooooo, had ik deze maar gekend toen ik vanmiddag voorlichting gaf over cultuureducatie aan Pabostudenten.

WAUW

[LighthammerStudios]

This moved me.

[progre55]

made me cry, too.. just "wow!"

[cobrabase]

I'm amazed... I always thought he was an atheist. What a guy.

[VocalEdgeTV]

OK I'm officially addicted to this guy. Definitely beautiful.

[oldetownecoffee1]

Dammit...I'm choking back tears here.

[supervanillabear4]

I love all his poetry, however, even his most emotionally charged poems never brought me to tears... until this one.

This one got me good.

[lilee88]

@supervanillabear4

Yes that makes 2 of us... first time ever a pem did make me cry!

[RonanADunne]

Outstanding....

=8-){----{

[1ogeck]

I loved this poem the first time I heard it. A few days after I watched this, my dog died, and I knew exactly what to do for a sort of goodbye ceremony for him.

[VocalEdgeTV]

@1ogeck Aw yes, I sure feel ya on the death of your dog! It's like losing a family member.

[dphillphilo]

Amazing.

[Poplopo]

Damn I cried, that was beautiful

[Astromarine]

Definitely beautiful

Definitely beautiful

Definitely beautiful

[LittleMissLiit]

this made me cry.. it was so boutiful

[fireweasel]

Almost too intense to bear.

[DemonWolf47x]

dammit mali, itz too beautiful

[Alexc0999]

Amazing. I can't even grasp how this poem is so powerful. It just is.

[broadwaybound128]

made me cry too! :( :(

[chatanwarrior]

T.T wow

[IamAubs300]

Absolutely beautiful

[LighterB]

beautiful man.

[nightdaughter1]

no words. Only tears. Phenomenal

[OreoCookie1228]

OMG that is wonderful and wow...i'm crying

[4ascroggs]

This reminded me how fortunate I am to call myself a teacher and work everyday with amazing young people.

[kjwannabe]

one word: beautiful. *sob*

[funnyfinder31193]

how beautiful... his use of symbology and how he ties everything in at the last moment is amazing.

[dfunk4321]

taylor mali is a lamed vovnik.

[thecharredremain]

oh my god.

[Softballdragonfly]

Woah. Tear.

[thecharredremain]

I was full out sobbing by the end lol

[Noranapps]

thx for making me cry, and being able to make ppl cry, which was also beautiful in itself ( seeing that some ppl can still be touched by simple poetry and beautiful stories). still wish you were my middle school teacher one day

[Koribaby1]

I don't think anyone can hear this and not think..."Damn...."

[geekgurl2000]

hey, why are my eyes leaking?

[pauliejay77]

@geekgurl2000

i cried

[valeicha]

by far one of my favorite poem by taylor..

[patdlover1916]

Ahhhhhhhhh Man!

[jakeouren03]

This is amazing. It starts out so descriptive and inspiring and suddenly your heart breaks. Thank you sir. I will forever remember the name Tony Steinberg.

[TheR3sistanc3]

Holy shit.

There's nothing else to say.

[ThisIsAnInsideJoke]

I sobbed when my philosophy teacher showed this today during a discussion of art. Art it is indeed.

[excitedbike]

v'chayim aleinu v'al kol yis'ra'eil v'im'ru

Amein

Oseh shalom bim'romav hu ya'aseh shalom

aleinu v'al kol Yis'ra'eil v'im'ru

Amein

[excitedbike]

To Tony Steinberg Yit'gadal v'yit'kadash sh'mei raba b'al'ma di v'ra khir'utei v'yam'likh mal'khutei b'chayeikhon uv'yomeikhon uv'chayei d'khol beit yis'ra'eil ba'agala uviz'man kariv v'im'ru: Amein. Y'hei sh'mei raba m'varakh l'alam ul'al'mei al'maya Yit'barakh v'yish'tabach v'yit'pa'ar v'yit'romam v'yit'nasei v'yit'hadar v'yit'aleh v'yit'halal sh'mei d'kud'sha B'rikh hu. toosh'b'chatah v'nechematah, da'ameeran b'al'mah, v'eemru: Amein Y'hei sh'lama raba min sh'maya

[Lokifan13]

Yep, and me. It was the reminder of how truly excellent kids can be, with the shaven heads.

[4ndiland]

made me cry tooo

[auran5]

made me cry man....so beautiful...

[KatLoveMusic]

Brilliant.

[jordanprince08]

Im doing this for my Poetry on the forensics team , i make everyone cry who listens.

[amyeileen]

Thank you for the inspiration. I read your poetry and I am determined to go into work tomorrow and be an even better teacher. Sometimes we teachers need reminders about how important our work is. We can get bogged down in meetings and paperwork and nonsense. You do a great job of reminding us!

[inatreefort]

this one actually made me cry, which is not easy to do...

[mrf792]

I love it sir. My teacher is Jerry Seeger and were big fans

[anthemofadam]

lol glad im not the only one that cried. this hit me hard

[MarleyMe95]

Wow. I actually cried. That was brilliant.

[hottie2001032515]

My creative writing teacher Christian Kaminsky, who has opened for you, played this in my class. You voice rang out loudly in our silent classroom. i sat, three seats back and listened. Suddenly my heart filled with such emotion. Just from your words. For this i commend you. You are my hero.

[Duhnata]

I've loved this mans poetry since I first heard what a teacher makes on def poetry, but of all the poems I've ever heard read or read silently or verbalized passonatly to my self and anyone else that was in hearing range, of all the poems of my life, this one was the most powerfull, beautifull, passionate and moveing.

[ally617]

My teacher in sophomore year played this poem for our class. The moment it ended, we sat it utter silence for ten minutes before the lunch bell rang. No one spoke. It was the most eloquent silence I have ever heard.

[zirtavia]

Oh my god, that's so beautiful <3

[corrosiveCUPID]

It made me cry... May his spirit rest in peace.

[humminbird7]

I cry everytime

[Sammery]

This made me want to cry....and believe more than ever that all the time, and stress and inability to do what I want because I'm working on a lesson plan or philosophy statement for an education course is worth it. young people in this country have more strength of character than we ever give them credit for.

[Minikimii]

I cried.

[ImminentlyWise]

God...just....wow.

[ivorytower54]

Wow! As the tear rolls down my face!

[redranger332]

i've heard this poem many times before. this is the first time i have listened to it as a teacher, and boy was it powerful listening to it this time! beautiful, yet sad story.

[Jhara121]

this poem made me cry.

[wordsayers]

i cried

[Upper9T]

That was so elegant and beautiful.

[vorwoz]

Fucking Awesome doesn't begin to describe it.

[h2freak]

Amazing story, even listening to it for the 5th time, I still get teary eyed.

[bexter28]

wow. i dont know what to say. this is so moving. just like the "depression too is a kind of fire" piece, they reduce me to silence. becautiful x x

[mma32lmm4]

wow

[sachemgal]

All of your poems are incredibly moving, but this is the first one that made me cry.

Simply amazing!

[BlueLycan87]

I loved seeing you at CMU and sitting through your workshop.

[maverickwoman2]

Dear Taylor- cant wait to welcome you in Sydney when you come to Australia next year to be poet-in-residence in Queensland! You have a huge fanclub in my company already! What is the timing of you visit? Annalie (BTW, I am bringing my kids to NYC for XMAs & we will go to Bowery Theatre on Tuesday 29 Dec _ hope we might c u there again?)

[raybaboon]

MR. MALI a living poetic legend. This brought tears to my eyes. I loved every single bit of it!

[mathgeek37]

While I love this poem and I love his poetry, I have to disagree with the theological point of view. The god of mathematics made a rather chaotic universe. Maybe my point of view about God is cynical and atheistic, but even that poem moved me hard. The possibility of God existing still remains.

Thank you, Taylor.

[canihelpyou]

fuck, every time i watch this i still get teary eyed. beautiful piece mr. mali.

[mistyjocasta]

You are amazing.

[brklyngirl4life219]

No matter how many times I hear it, I still tear up.

[goalie900]

jimmy its ben and im in jimkilla69s class and hes not lying we are raising money for u it is $3500 and i hope we are able to have you come !!!!!

[jimkilla69]

hey taylor my class is trying to raise enogh money for you to come to our school and do a preformence but your a"agents" say that your fee is $3500 so if we can i hope you will come or all that spear time and money we raised for you to come to our school wouldn't count i hope you come i and akll of us love your poems

[iorishura]

thats was absolutely beautiful. thank you. please visit SDSU one day.

[SlimeInKorea]

that was absolutely incredible!

[DanielWLin]

Thank you!

[ravensmomscorp76]

that was beautiful

[delohsteve]

Classic! Thanks for sharing your experience with us.What a privilege. What a joy.

[MissingLeftSock]

I posted a video response to this, though it hasn't showed up yet. Thank you, Mr. Mali, for making a recording of this poem available! I've been looking for one for quite some time.

[fishyface07]

It takes a lot to render me speechless, but this did it. All I can say is "Wow."

[msg3tr1ght]

absolutely amazing

[alucardmai]

I am in tears.

[SparklingGrey]

That was incredibly moving, so very touching, and beautiful. I love your work, Mr. Mali.

[shinryu2527]

Thank you for all those outstanding poems Mr Mali. This one is an absolutely heart moving masterpiece!

[sandythepoet]

A great poem can make you cry. THAT was a great poem.

[NotEvsie]

Mr Mali, your poetry is simply inspirational, from the absurd and playful to poems such as these you never fail to hit the mark. Your students are lucky to have you for a teacher - even if it will take them a decade to realise it.

My hat goes off to you, sir, and my heart to the boy in your tale.

[grnlfe01]

That was a brilliantly touching piece of poetry. Thank you.

[Misterate]

Wow. That was fantastically powerful.

[MrSedarati]

Genius

[Positivevlog]

I'm very impressed by this poem. I love your work.

[NewfieBullett]

Mr. Mali, you are truly one of the greatest inspriations in my teaching career. Thanks so much for this, and for all you do.