The Theoretical Pieces|The Normal Pieces

The Theoretical Pieces

My intent with the majority of my "spoken word" poetry is to make seeing and hearing it an absolute requirement of the piece. I don't want poetry that sounds OK but doesn't read well on the page. I want poetry that cannot work on the page - otherwise why do it aloud? With that in mind, my performance poems involve things like beatboxing, then turning a cymbal clash into the sound of TV static. They involve sign language. They involve walking in the crowd not as a gimmick, but as an integral part of the metaphor.

The poem that best exemplifies what I strive for is "ADD TV." I have two recordings of it, neither of which are spectacular. The one below has better lighting so that you can see what the movements are like during the poem. Over in the sidebar is a link to an another recording I posted on YouTube - the performance is better, I think, but the video quality is low due to bad lighting that night.

Another piece that works with this visual dynamic is "Sign of the Turtle," a poem based on a real experience in a creative writing class I taught (using real people and events is a rarity for me). The recording below is a bit flat in terms of performance, but it's the highest quality video I have of the poem.

I have a few other poems that are quite theoretical - that is to say, one of their major purposes is to explore the boundaries of the spoken word/slam format. These include "There will be no reinvention of the wheel," which will soon be featured on Indiefeed's Performance Poetry podcast, "I am the Alpha and the Meta," and "Bartlett's Familiar." To check out each of these poems, see the links over in the sidebar.

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The Normal Pieces

I don't always break with convention. One of my more popular "normal" spoken-word pieces is based on my experiences in a part-time job as an undergraduate. Stephen Sargent, Travis Schafer, and I turned it into a three-person performance (with some great modifications to both words and motions) for the 2007 National Poetry Slam. I like it better with the three of us, but Poetry Slam, Inc, controls the rights to the footage shot during NPS. Maybe some day I'll ask for permission to put that video up here. In the meantime, I give you "We control the vertical."

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