the cult of notes app poetry 📝 (rupi kaur, gabbi hanna, megan fox, tumblr, and tiktok slideshows) 

omg going on your notes app in broad daylight to look at your grocery list and finding the most depressing note/poetry you wrote when you were down bad and cringing at yourself, is definitely a universal experience 😭

After reading the comments: Now I need a video of Jack judging OUR shitty notes poetry 😭💀

as the water in my hair changed to sweat on my brow i realized i couldn’t hear him anymore - don’t dry your hair while watching youtube

every time i have to hear jack speak in cursive voice i lose five years off my lifespan and suffer from significant hair loss. it’s iconic

"You were raised by Tumblr and are now in therapy" I've never felt more called out in my life 🤣🤣🤣

if jack was my professor i would never miss a class cuz THIS MAN CAN TEACH

You Are so articulate The words Your vibes Are immaculate 🙃

ok why are these unpublished poetry examples better than most published notes app poetry pieces 😂😂😂

My favorite one of these poems (which yes is making fun of rupi kaur) is this: Was my heart just cartilage -- and you, a piercing gun at claire's? Makes me laugh every single time

It's really easy to just shit on this kind of poetry, and I really appreciate Jack's empathy and curiosity towards it. This is a great exploration of it, and you should be proud!

Every time i pick up one of these poetry books I'm reminded of 13 year old me thinking i was angsty. My diary was full of shitty poetry about how the world didn't understand me or my crush didn't like me.

as someone who writes poetry, i'm grateful that you brought attention to the fact that if people can relate to the words written, if in some shape or form they found it reassuring, less lonely and positive towards their mental health - then people should just be allowed to write on a vulnerable level without fearing criticism. having said that, i do agree that once your work is published or you're building a platform around it - you should be accepting and open to criticism to improve your craft further. anyways great video as always ✨

You have inspired me to write my own cringeworthy poetry in the middle of the night, thanks

Some of rupi kaurs poems will forever have a place in my heart, as some of them deal with csa or sa. I found her books while I came to terms with the fact that I experienced that and reading someone else's words, thoughts and feelings regarding that topic, while not knowing or understanding mine, helped. After reading one of her books, I think it actually was milk and honey, I started to open up about my own story. So I will forever be thankful for finding her work at that time and for it being so accessible

stop this 😭 you literally described my notes app poems perfectly i’m so embarrassed i can’t write poetry for my life

English is my second language, and normal traditional poetry is so hard for me to read and understand (unlike poetry in my own language), so this type of poetry is easier for me to digest and connect with. It’s always nice to hear you discuss a topic without judging people for liking it

M a n g o e s 😔🤌

as someone who writes poetry where rhyme and meter are very crucial and takes a long time to make it cohesive, i can understand it gets frustrating when what looks like a monologue with line breaks gets more recognition, but in the end expression is unique, and poetry can take many meanings.

i was watching this thinking "omg does MY poetry sound like this??" and now im overanalyzing everything ive ever written. maybe its a sign lmao

I love notes app poetry, the common man’s art

The tumblr poems being in the same font too got me thinking, would we read these with the same weight as if it was written in comic sans for example? Or word art? Imagine Shakespeare’s poetry in word art 😂

lol as someone who still uses tumblr (surprise! we’re still here) i can say the main themes have definitely moved on to icarus, cannibalism, holiness, pomegranates, etc. yea the hands and heart are still there though

This man really managed to give an in-depth, incredibly interesting lecture on the most (stupidly) dramatic form of poetry 😭 we need more of jack teaching, this was amazing!

We need you to make more poetry analysis and improving tiktok poetry content !! I love what you did at 14:40 :)

dakota warren did a (now deleted i think) video on _this_ type of poetry and she made some incredible points too because she is incredible ! it's a shame she deleted it, i remember the comments were criticising the video for dismissing "art" but i think she was completely right. hope jack's video gets better reception, jack and dakota fans rise up ‼️

I have never liked rupi Kaur's poetry but was willing to be open ab its worth and importance to people and then I saw the clip of her reading it aloud and almost spat my tea

Jack Edwards was an aesthetic tumblr girlie confirmed.

Sharing my favorite notes app poem here!! “they did not tell me it would hurt like this no one warned me about the heartbreak we experience with friends where are the albums i thought there were no songs sung for it i could not find the ballads or read the books dedicated to writing the grief we fall into when friends leave it is the type of heartache that does not hit you like a tsunami it is a slow cancer the kind that does not show up for months has no visible signs is an ache here a headache there but manageable cancer or tsunami it all ends the same a friend or a lover a loss is a loss is a loss -the underrated heartache” Rupi Kaur

As a note app poet, myself!! The parodies are funny!! some hurt my feelings lowkey but damn I just like the "pretentious" air of poetry.

The notes app “poem” on the thumbnail is the icing on the cake lol. Some really decent poets by the way (in my opinion): 1. Ilya Kaminsky, “Deaf Republic” 2. Warsan Shire, “Teaching my Mother how to give birth.” She worked on Lemonade with Beyoncé, so you know she’s good. 3. ANY Mary Oliver. I have never liked nature poetry until reading hers. 4. Margaret Atwood has some pretty decent poems 5. Any June Jordan 6. Any Langston Hughes 7. Allen Ginsberg if you like weird-drug fueled poetry. He has some decent, more coherent ones though, or at least ones worth learning about. 8. Maggie Smith Edit: 9. Carol Ann Duffy 10. Louise Glück 12. Richard Siken of course! His first collection ‘Crush’ has been used to death for fan edits/fiction, but outside of that it’s a really fantastic piece of work. 13. Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath are worth learning about. There’s a reading of his poem, “Love song” done by Cillian Murphy that absolutely makes me swoon. Listen to it alone though….😬 There are many, many more! But these are some of my favorites and they are not tumblr poems 😂 take it with a grain of salt though.

that poetry voice you put on made me absolutely laugh out loud thank you xxx

I thought Jack was going to say "If you were raised on tumblr you are entitled to financial compensation."

Meanwhile, in my notes app: - list of possible Christmas gifts - shopping list - food orders - packing lists - itineraries - e-mail drafts - calculations - party menues - to do lists - guest lists - lists of questions for specific meetings ...

As a notes app "poet" it hits the mark😂. But really, writing in notes app doesn't mean necessarily that your writing is bad. It's not a category or classification. A poem/prose can just be as meaningful with or without having big words. Written on notes app or written on paper. It's the thought and feeling that matters!❤

Agreed! I'm guilty of purchasing one of these poems books during a hard phase of my life. It helped me gather the courage to move forward and strive for better. Reading it again, I can totally see why it's not a literary masterpiece and I'm a bit embarrassed. Sometimes, it screams teenager angst and unrefined poetry. However, I'm glad I bought it, it gave me the words I needed during this period of time when I wasn't ready to talk to others.

jack reading his own notes app poetry and explaining the tought process behind it really made me wanna hug him 🫂

Even though I don’t post or publish my poetry, I’ve always critiqued and downplayed it because some of it is written similarly to this “notes app” style and there is a world of hate and mockery surrounding it online. thank you for talking about it in a way that doesn’t invalidate or put down people who write, enjoy, and resonate with poems like these ❤️

This is such a refreshing take on notes app poetry and authors like Rupi Kaur. For various reasons I could write an essay and not a youtube comment on, I used to severely discredit poetry despite being an avid reader. After reading Milk and Honey, my perspective on it completely changed, I started to love poetry and get into it myself. Would I like Kaur’s work to the same extent now as I did then? Probably not. But notes app poetry is still a gateway for so many people, and shouldn’t be disregarded as often as I see online.

Jack in his consistent era, we love a prolific booktube king!

no but fr as an MFA student and published poet… most people don’t know what GOOD poetry is, and have only read classics and instagram poetry, and that’s why people think it’s sappy and cringe. I’d recommend Chen Chen, Lorna Crozier, Franny Choi, and Billy-Rae Belcourt for people looking to get into contemporary poetry!

We need more content like this Jack! You're amazing at dissecting topics for discussions.

I bawled my eyes out reading milk and honey, im not ashamed, was it simple? Yes, could a thousand other people do it? Yes, but they didn't, and a poem that puts your feelings into words?!?! I don't care about the technicalities of it.

you really called me out with the notes app poetry since i write all my poetry in my notes app before i write it down on paper or my laptop 😂😂 but (i hope) that my notes app poetry isnt as bad as that notes app poetry

As someone who has studied yeats and Eliot when you were describing the features of notes app poetry all I could think was they are the notes app poets of their day to some extent

Genuinely love your video essays! I love how you can put on the critical lit studies hat without being really negative. Your videos always make me think, but they never stress me out, you seem so kind!

Excellent video Jack! You did this without making people who enjoy notes app poetry feel like they're not smart enough. There is something out there for everyone in the poetry world, just let people like what they like. That goes for music, books and movies too... I'm particularly sore 🤣after having two lads at the weekend think it was hilarious when I said La La Land was my favourite movie, I related hard to that ending, so it's everything to me. Different strokes, for different folks.

I would absolutely buy a poetry book from you! 😂 I feel like you have such a good sense of humor and to read you narrating your life on a light hearted and deeper scale would be so fun and relatable. Loved this video ❤ and completely agree on your summary!

this is so random but you should definitely do “analysing literary references in A series of unfortunate events” It’s such an interesting show and every episode is packed with references to classic authors or books!!!

the first notes app poem I wrote was literally about two toothbrushes! I’m feeling incredibly called out…

When I was like 14 or 15 I was so down bad for my friend that when I found out he liked another girl and was going on a date with her, I wrote a whole SONG in my journal about how I should’ve shown I liked him sooner. Needless to say I have since then crumpled those pages up and DESTROYED them so no one would ever see it

For poetry lovers there is a podcast called On being and they have audio recordings of poets reading their poems it’s incredible

13:47 omg I love that your english lit side came out, I love these corrections

this needs to be much longer. i wish you spoke about poetry more.

notes app poetry is not inherently bad but i think a lot of times it is used to reduce the effort that writing good poetry takes - so with this i mean a lot of this type of poetry is bad because the author uses it as a way to write quicker instead of using it because the format actually adds something to what they have to say

the way you’ve managed to describe my own thoughts on this perfectly!!! you’ve managed to address this with such empathy and thoughtfulness 🫶

Roughest Drafts did a video with the same subject a couple months ago, which is like a good companion piece to this because he talks a little more about the history of it in terms of publishing and the wider impact and Rupi's other work.

it's really awesome that jack really dove deep into this area of culture, inside of immediately bashing it the way I have seen so many other creators do. it really shows how he wants to find the good in all art, because there is something to be learned from it!

This is SUCH a cool video, love how Jack's putting his degree to good use!

For ages I didn’t think of these as real poems, then I read a rupi kaur and found myself with tears in my eyes

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THESE TYPE OF CONTENTS

I would love to hear more of your notes app poetry!!

thank you for giving tik tok slides their flowers!! i have read some really beautiful writing on there

i literally was rewatching jacks video on tier ranking celeb poetry, opened my subscription box, and saw this video. Perfection.

How to help people love poetry- good work Jack!

IVE NEVER BEEN SO EXCITED TO WATCH A VIDEOOOO!!!! Jack ily

honestly jack i commend you for being brave enough to critique, albeit poignantly and not snobbishly, this phenomenon in the publishing industry which i have found interesting for a while as well

I read a poem at an open mic yesterday for the first time in front of all my professors and classmates and MA students too … literally started like this “I started to write this poem on my notes app when I couldn’t sleep…” god now I’m 1 minute into this video and embarrassed af Edit I watched a bit further and although I draft a lot of my poems on my phone, this doesn’t seem to describe me 😎❤

This was amazing! Please do more like this!

Okay it’s sooooo funny that you just posted this bc I watched your “guessing the Booker prize winner” video last night and you were like gagging over that one page of The Bee Sting where it’s like “love. we do this for love” or whatever it was and my immediate thought was like “that rupi kaur ass instagram story ass line” and like I’m sure in context it hit but out of context it was so cheesy so it’s just funny to me that now you’re making this video 😭😭😭

you are most definitely not alone in this experience, i write poetry for all my crushes, there aren't a lot of them so it's very intense, either way it is a shock when i randomly open the app for some other work.

Rupi's work and these Notes App poems are very spoken word. Reminds me of Def Poetry Jam from the 90s. Some are great and some are cheesy.

Jack’s giving lecturers’ TA here (and I’m so here for it)

Jack you've done it again; constantly raising the bar for us all, and doing it effortlessly.

Finally❤❤❤ i always wanted to hear jack's opinion about theses kind of poetry

You truly truly truly remind me of my AP Literature teacher in HS 🤣🤣. The way you did the poem and switching out is what he would do with my writing and tell me to go "deeper" or "more in depth". I would definitely take your class if I was back in school

It’s interesting to see the slight differences between how you described Milk in Honey in the past on your blog to now. You can see how as a reader you have evolved

honestly, I dabbled in poetry briefly a few times in the past and a lot of it felt like this. I think its a sign of someone who doesn't have a ton of experience in the medium, but if it gets you into it I think it's a good thing. I didn't stick with poetry but learning about it definitely made me a better writer, I think.

omfg the cursive reading about the mangoes got me good

ahh loved this commentary style video!!

oh i love this so much

Tier ranking celebrity poetry part 2 PLEASE!

This was such a great video!

“Ever been so down bad for someone they have you in your notes app” I once wrote a dissertation length note about a situationship basically telling the whole story and I’d update it every time something happened for well over a year, for it to just end. Great use of my time👍🏼

I really liked this topic! I'm probably the only English major alive who really doesn't like poetry, so I typically enjoy "notes app poetry" and the like. Poetry is just one of the few things I don't really love to analyze. Ig I'm just not a very feelings-y type of person, which is what I typically think poetry is about. Anyways, I've always said that as long as you enjoyed it or got something out of it, then the poetry did its job. I really like the accessible aspect of simple poems

Really loved the video and your point!! just here to say that your mosquito poem puts word on exactly what i'm going through these days so thank you for sharing!

Listening To you S p e a k Intelligently is very E N Joy A B L E

I LOVED this video!

That opening story is literally me 😩💀 Holy cow that had me immediately cracking up.

I SCREAMED when i saw your upload

watched a video recently from the channel roughest drafts about this same topic! it's such an interesting topic to me i've loved seeing more people explore it on a deeper level

Jack Edwards , you make the books sound so alive and you describe them with such a passion that even the borring book of all it sounds interesting

What a masterpiece this video is!!! ❤

Jack I thought that toothbrush poem was really good genuinely I was moved ♥️

i love this more analytical video essay format

Oh my God. This was SO needed. EXACTLY!!!! Aaaa

Love your refreshing attitude towards this. I feel like some of the hatred to this style of poetry stems from people wanting to feel superior by only putting value in classical literature

“the most depressing thing u ever read…and you wrote it!!” hahahh oof yeah that’s deff relatable 😅

I feel so called out- I love it

This is a kind and thoughtful perspective

with Rupi Kaur it also feels a lot more like spoken word for me. I went to one of her shows and with one of her pieces about anxiety, it felt like she was able to tell people what I was going through when I couldn't do that. I highly recommend going to her shows!