I'm practising how to read my work, I bought a mic but it was so awful i had to return it (seriously gave me a really bad lisp and was very muffled.) I'm going to borrow a better one. I've been listening to Paul Mckenna every day, and trying to read a poem out loud in my kitchen most days, sometimes 2 or 3. To start with I've just been doing short poems, and then poems that are a little longer that I can't wait to read. I've found a good exercise is to think of some poets you know and how they read, then try to stand like them, and read your work like them. We guessed who each other was doing this, and most poets could be guessed in less than two lines- just by how they stood and how they pause between words. It was good fun, it was interesting to male poets who stand with a 'my testicles are too damn big' stride, interesting to see how the work becomes chatty with some poets tone, mystical with others. Just standing like someonelse feels alot better. The next stage of the exercise is I then tried to read my poems incorporating bits of the other poets into how I'd read it, and some bits of how I woulda done it- the tone definitely felt more upbeat, which is a lot better than my Wednesday Addams diary entries.
The book cover issue is still unsettled, so I'm thinking about making some crabapple jelly or lemon curd to keep myself happy (I've never made either, but the apples and lemons are piled high, and i like the idea of something i can make a label for :) Also I have fuzzy felts arriving in the post tomorrow (hopefully). I got to thinking about fuzzy felts of my youth, and had nothing but good memories of them. All those bright colours and rearranging, so I decided to buy a set to keep by my desk that I can rearrange in the same way men in the 80's used to play with metal balls and mini snooker (ah, primary colours, nice composition, now back to work.) I couldn't find circus fuzzy felts though, I remember them from the 70's- but there is no trace of them anywhere now, so I'm wondering if it is something I remember that didn't exist. These nice distractions and chutney envy are keeping the balance right :)
2 comments:
Circus fuzzy felts existed in my universe though it's probably considered exploitation if you make a felt lion jump through a hoop nowadays.
Don't forget to point your penis forward as you read!
Finally I got my copy of STRIP and had time to read it! I love it and found it rather poignant. I Like the way you have letters in there and thought they really worked. My favourite poem is Jungle Bettie- not sure why!
Post a Comment