I savored this post over dinner after a long day, and it was such a fun thing to read and listen to after work. It sparked some of my own creative energies, which is pretty hard to do after a long day. :)
I love spoken word poetry. I'm not entirely sure where or when my first exposure to this particular style of poetry was. I have long had a fascination with performed poetry, and spent many hours of my childhood reading poetry (my own and others') aloud. There is just something so wonderful fun about the process. I didn't really hear about Poetry Slams until college, and was too intimidated by the thought of performing my work on stage to try it out. But I've since gotten braver about reading my own works aloud in front of others.
I got to see some Jamaican dub poetry performed while I was in Jamaica for the Peace Corps. And I have heard some very powerful poems at QUILTBAG pride festivals and events like Take Back the Night. It was a Take Back the Night event where I first read some of my own poetry. A lot of my poetry is written with some awareness of how it will sound if read aloud, mainly because I think out loud and read things to myself as I write. I try on sounds and rhythms and play with timing.
Learning to speak more slowly, to not let my nerves rush a sentence that did not need to be rushed, was perhaps the hardest part of learning to perform poetry. I have tried to learn from the excellent spoken word poets I've heard, and the examples you shared are perfect examples of excellent spoken word poets. These poets have a wonderful grasp of tone, volume, emphasis, pacing and energy.
I do like it when I can read the poem as well as listen to it, though. I can get caught up in the sound of the poem and miss some of the content. But that does make re-listening a joyous thing as I catch bits I missed the second time around.
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timeasmymeasure
What a wonderful post to come home to!
Date: 2013-06-11 12:45 am (UTC)I love spoken word poetry. I'm not entirely sure where or when my first exposure to this particular style of poetry was. I have long had a fascination with performed poetry, and spent many hours of my childhood reading poetry (my own and others') aloud. There is just something so wonderful fun about the process. I didn't really hear about Poetry Slams until college, and was too intimidated by the thought of performing my work on stage to try it out. But I've since gotten braver about reading my own works aloud in front of others.
I got to see some Jamaican dub poetry performed while I was in Jamaica for the Peace Corps. And I have heard some very powerful poems at QUILTBAG pride festivals and events like Take Back the Night. It was a Take Back the Night event where I first read some of my own poetry. A lot of my poetry is written with some awareness of how it will sound if read aloud, mainly because I think out loud and read things to myself as I write. I try on sounds and rhythms and play with timing.
Learning to speak more slowly, to not let my nerves rush a sentence that did not need to be rushed, was perhaps the hardest part of learning to perform poetry. I have tried to learn from the excellent spoken word poets I've heard, and the examples you shared are perfect examples of excellent spoken word poets. These poets have a wonderful grasp of tone, volume, emphasis, pacing and energy.
I do like it when I can read the poem as well as listen to it, though. I can get caught up in the sound of the poem and miss some of the content. But that does make re-listening a joyous thing as I catch bits I missed the second time around.