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The three voices of me ...

11/29/2018

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A poem has a voice all its own.  The very act of writing makes it so.  Poems speak from an ethereal realm of muse, words, and ideas, and they resonate on a different frequency than a speaking voice.

Or, so it is for me.  

Stephen Edward Ambrose, noted historian and author of more than thirty books, said, “Reading your own poetry forces you to listen.”   Alas, reading my poems aloud forces me to listen to my listeners.

I am fortunate to have observers in my sphere who offer their perspectives on my poetry readings and who universally point out that I to speak the words too hurriedly to be properly discerned.

They mention, also, that I need to not only enunciate more clearly but to raise the volume of my voice to be better heard.  And so it is that I prefer that they, and others read my poems for themselves.

But then the feedback I receive is rather strange.  Many a reader has pointed out specific concepts in my work that I did not compose.  Yes, I clearly see their point, and no, I didn't write that.

So, on the one hand, how does the poet perfectly orate the poem faithfully without becoming theatrical about it?  And on the other, what am I to make of such varied interpretations of my work?

Firstly, since the voice I hear while writing a poem differs vastly from my normal speaking voice, and drastically so from my recital voice, I should probably consider enrolling in a local speech class.

But, as to the second issue of the reader’s interpretation diverging from my muse’s intentions in a poem, I often find their take on my work amusing, enlightening, and entertaining, and that’s okay.

This issue of reading my work before a live audience has lead me to much head scratching, and to wondering whether these phenomenon are  common to poets at large or reserved solely for me.

To misquote Dr. McCoy: “I’m a poet, Jim, not a performer!”






















​Image: theguardian.com
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One man who changed my world ...

11/1/2018

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Eugene Wesley Roddenberry, television screenwriter, and producer of the TV series Star Trek, gave us an imaginary blueprint for much of the technology that my generation later brought into being.

Doors that open automatically upon approach, cell phones, food replicators, (3D food printers), the use of voice commands with a computer, (Siri, Google Now),  jet- injection hyposprays and more.

Along with all these neat new gizmos, Gene Roddenberry gave 60’s science geeks, like myself, a vision of the future that was innovative, exciting, and set in outer space, and he encouraged us to dream.  

I turned my bedroom into a lab; I hung star charts all over my walls, experimented with a Gilbert chemistry set, studied samples with my Lionel microscope, and gazed at the sky through my telescope.         

My poetry included an ode about piercing the virgin sky with rockets, and another poem proposing that humans residing on Earth were once escapees from a planet inhabited by deranged humanoids.

The scope of my world, and of my writing, was forever enhanced by Gene Roddenberry, who said, “I hope that I helped to build a fierce pride in what we are and what we can do if we set our minds to it.”

And, this is where I say, “Well done, sir.”





Image: delamagente.wordpress.com
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    About the author:

    I've written many poems over the years.  This blog is a preview of my books: Echoes, Neo-Victorian Poetry (April 2013), Echoes ll, More Neo-Victorian Poetry (May 2014), Echoes lll, Even More Neo-Victorian Poetry, (August 2016), A Compilation of Echoes. (September 2016), and When None Command (April 13, 2019)

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