Kyle 'Guante' Tran Myhre - When They Look Right Through You

Kyle "Guante" Tran Myhre, performing at Icehouse in Minneapolis, MN.

About Button:

Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.

We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry's audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.

[GUANTESOLO]

Thanks for sharing this. Shout to all the cartpushers, servers, bartenders, drivers, and everyone.

[lcurrant]

Retail and service jobs are the most underrated prison. They feel endless sometimes and the idea of moving forward feels so impossible. Thanks for preaching this.

[penversity]

"Remember, when they look right through you, you're still there."

Love that his poetry stands up for the forgotten voices. It's always fresh listening to what Guante has to say, and he says it in such a relatable way.

[nananutdreamers]

"Remember when they look straight through you, your still there"

I never realized how much I needed to hear that. Through all the pity I get, all the looks I get, I never realized how much I needed to remind myself that I'm still here.

[ladysmith]

The person who makes coffee for me and know just how I like it and asks me how my day is matters to me a lot. The checker who looks at my groceries and asks me what I am going to make for dinner can make my afternoon. The guy at the drive through who always said, "Hello beautiful, what would you like today" made me swoon every single time. You folks all make my day just a little bit brighter.

[erikatobonabarca]

“Our native language is white noise”
This whole damn poem. It’s art. And it hurts how true it is. Ugh. I love this

[jaysaysnope]

I literally just got home from my retail job, and I might cry. That shit sucks. Thanks for speaking up for us.

[shirleyware]

Customer says "oh but it's guaranteeing you a job for us to mess it up". So sad that they think this way!!! Excellent said thank you!!!!

[danesook]

I love this! I've worked so many horrible retail jobs. It's honestly the biggest motivator to finish school. The last one I worked at only gave us two 15 minute breaks for an eight hour shift. Retail work really is soul crushing, and that's hardly an exaggeration.

[clukity]

I watched this when I was working as a cartpusher and I felt like I finally found something I can relate to, and it stuck to me its been years since that job and I still feel all of this. <3

[banemorgan]

It’s been 4 years since I found poetry, yet the only one I keep coming back to is this one, no matter how much I like others, this is the one that keeps me living, I can’t express how much this helps me

[zachhannah]

The class war has been on my mind so much lately and gotdamn did you do my soul a favor with this one. I know you aren't reading the comments, but I needed this dude.

[corvarts]

So good. Reminds me of my days working at a grocery store during 2020. I always appreciated the people who thanked me for sanitizing the carts.

[Numbuh]

I always find myself coming back to this one.

[thepowerfist]

Guante back to shake my soul with these words 🙏🏽

[na]

Damn. He's basically speaking my life right now.

[maximumvolt]

I worked at a grocery store for a year when I was 15/16 I love this poem so much, especially the part about the sky looking beautiful at night

[maheenshahzad]

i love it when people who seam scary and mean do things like this that just break your heart with joy

[dae]

I love this guy. His voice is just sooo calming

[sirseatofbelt]

This is probably the thing I listen to the most, more than music sometimes. I don't push carts and for a minute I was even the MOD. But man, they look right through you. And I'm half way to half way done with my shift.