Sound and Vision

I'm surprised that I did not think of this sooner...

I am at home during a very hot Tuesday, sitting in my kitchen in front of this screen with a plan to go for a short walk after the leftovers I have had for dinner. I am waiting on money in the mail (snail, unfortunately), and having vague thoughts about which dumpster I would choose if I do get kicked out of my apartment and have to suffer another humiliation. The job hunt continues, with one application sent to a school that I applied to years before, had an interview with, and then found myself rejected from because the teacher I was supposed to replace decided not to retire.

So, money.

And poetry.

The person I must thank for this is Mariann Carroll:

Ms. Carroll conducted an interview with me and we had a lot of messages sent between us over what I would like to reveal about myself that I have not already shared with the Vocalites ('The Prom' was just one tip of a very awkward and embarrassing iceberg).

I shared with her my financial difficulties, and she discussed GoFundMe (already opened; still an option), and posting readings of my work on YouTube.

The latter has caught me.

I will be posting readings of my work for the next few weeks, and the selections will be taken from this Vocal page, and from my collection, 'Isaiahs in the Void'. I decided to begin with the five poems I read when I had a very successful public reading and wrote about it here:

It was a short reading, but the response of the crowd made me think that I may have something worth sharing to those who were not available to hear my dulcet tones that night.

Ha, ha.

One thing that I do need to work on is my voice. I have had no voice training, except for the occasional imitations of birds and other animals when I was reading books to my nephew and niece in their younger days, or the impressions I often made of celebrities and other figures in the media to amuse my students and colleagues. I feel I have a bit of a dull voice that needs to be modified and maybe...modulated?

You be the judge.

Also, I will only be reading poetry for the moment. I have tried to record directly on my phone with YouTube and I cannot make a short beyond three minutes unless I save my clips directly on my Samsung. I have to be careful with this. There is already enough junk saved on it and I am the kind of person who will forget about games, pictures and apps that I thought I would enjoy, use and remember. I do not want my storage space eaten up by my addiction to haikus and senryus. So, I will be keeping things brief and to the point...

...and very lively!

I made a note in my linked article about how these were read publicly. I always felt, and many scholars agree with me, that poetry is meant to be spoken aloud. It is not some cold exercise on the page that is supposed to end up in a dusty book on some forgotten shelf without the public knowing anything about it. It should not be restricted to the so-called experts.

And that is why I want your feedback.

Please let me know what you think both here and on the YouTube page. I have four poems and one longer piece posted on there, and I will be adding at least one more before the week is up. It will be a good way to forget about the money I don't have as my rent become due.

Enough complaining...

Enjoy!

*

Thank you for reading!

If you liked this, you can add your Insights, Comment, leave a Heart, Tip, Pledge, or Subscribe. I will appreciate any support you have shown for my work.

You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

Give it a look...