List the people you admire and look to for advice…
When people ask “who do you admire?” they’re usually expecting something neat, polished, maybe even a little bit safe.
Those who know me, know that’s never really been my style.
I don’t look up to people who make things tidy.
I look up to the ones who make things real.
The ones who stand on a stage, or behind a mic, or in front of a page… and bleed a little truth into the room.
The kind of truth that doesn’t sit comfortably.
The kind that makes you shift in your seat.
Or nod a little too hard because, yeah… you’ve felt that too.
For me, that’s people like Kyle Tran Myhre — better known as Guante.
There’s a sharpness to his work. Not just clever for the sake of it, but purposeful. Words aimed like arrows at the things that need questioning. Systems. Assumptions. The quiet nonsense we’re all taught to accept.
He doesn’t just write poetry.
He uses it.
And that matters.
Then there’s Neil Hilborn.
If you’ve ever heard him perform, you’ll know what I mean when I say it doesn’t feel like performance.
It feels like confession.
Messy. Honest. Unfiltered in a way that most people spend their entire lives trying to avoid.
He showed me that poetry doesn’t have to wear a suit and tie.
It can sit on the floor, back against the wall, saying the things you’re not supposed to say out loud.
And Rudy Francisco…
There’s a rhythm to his words that pulls you in before you even realise it. But underneath that rhythm is something deeper.
Compassion. Anger. Humanity laid bare.
The kind of poetry that doesn’t just want to be heard…
It wants to change something.
And that’s the thread that ties them all together for me.
They taught me that poetry doesn’t have to be:
Polite.
Stuffy.
Or locked away behind big words and bigger egos.
It can be angry.
It can be passionate.
It can be messy as hell.
More than that…
They taught me it can be useful.
Not in the “tick a box” kind of way.
But in the way that it can raise awareness. Start conversations. Shine a light into places people would rather keep dark.
The kind of poetry that says:
“Look at this.
Listen to this.
This matters.”
And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching, reading, and listening to voices like theirs…
It’s this:
Words don’t have to be perfect to mean something.
They just have to be honest enough to land.
Still scribbling.
Still learning.
Still trying to say something that matters.
Stay safe,
Bc
The Ramblings of Bob Christian 