You're listening to How to Be a Better Human.

I'm your host, Chris Duffy.

Today's guest is the poet educator and all-around joy of a human being Sarah Kay.

And we're having Sarah back on the show for a number of reasons.

One is that she's just someone who I love talking to.

I've known and loved Sarah for years.

She is immensely talented as a writer and performer. I mean, how many

poets do you know who tore the world performing their poems and have millions of people watch

their videos online? That is not exactly the typical poet career path. But another really big

reason why I wanted to talk to Sarah today is because Sarah is also immensely talented offstage in the care that she puts into her work in schools and teaching students, in her friendships and her relationships.

And so today we're going to talk with Sarah about how to connect with other people more deeply.

How do you move through the world with openness and vulnerability?

And how do you seek out beauty even when things are painful or scary?

To get us started, here is a poem of Sarah's from her latest poetry collection, A Little Daylight Left.

This is a poem that I love so much.

It's a poem that I have shared with many, many, many people.

It is called Miles from Any Shoreline.

I frequently miss entire days caught in my brain's spider webs. But if I happen to look up in time to notice that the darkness still has a little daylight left to swallow,

I will ivy up the fire escape to catch whatever embers of the day are still slow dying

behind New Jersey. And last week, through the fog of my loneliness, I realized the living

room was slippery pink, which I knew meant a light show must be on display. So with a quickness,

I reserved for emergencies, I scampered to the roof, and sure enough, an explosion of upside down,

...