last night I ventured from my comfort zone
challenged by Megha to read a poem publicly
found the poetry group in my new rural town
just happened to be ‘women’s’ night
five token men only the convenor performed
published poetry from women he knew well
around sixty feisty women and many read
quality was high but two resonated deeply
forty year old performed her own about
choosing not to have children, her ‘role’
is to love more people not just her offspring
and a 72 yo lady treating her ‘feral fanny’
for cancer, her humour resounded deeply,
her daughters there for support
such a pleasure to meet many strong women
will return to learn why men were not there
their absence seemed like lack of support
so curious to know why they avoided …
watching such talented ‘performers’ gave me much needed clues should I read publicly again!
Oh, coincidence Jane, I’m just home from my open Mic evening, here in Geelong, for a cold and wet night, there was a hardy crowd of about 50, probably 25% young men, and two old gentlemen !! The poetry readings were all of high quality, and even this old poets recital was received with good applause
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lol do they have themes there also Ivor?
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Yes, the theme was “Naked’
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oh a good saucy one to play with .. I love naked words!
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This is the poem that I recited, what was yours….
https://wp.me/p6B6QE-1PM
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https://aroused.blog/2019/05/03/night-lights
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I usually only read one poem, there’s always lots of readers, We have three intermissions, and about 26-30 readings…
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convenor has total control, he makes up the list and then invites who he wants in whatever order …
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Oh this is good and yes u must Kate if people like to listen to the way u read. Nice post 👍
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my applause was very tentative, I really don’t have the confidence or performance experience of these people. Some don’t write poetry they just come to perform others published poems.
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That is awesome that you got up there and did it! More power to you! 😊
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Reading publicly is truly a wonderful experience👍👍
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Very brave of you. I would not had the guts to do it.
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Bravo. There’s nothing like it.
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lol will take a lot of work to get me that enthusiastic Frank!
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It was the making of me as a poet.
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really, how so?
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The way that I write – short lines in lieu of punctuation – trying to match the nuance and flow of speech in the lines of my verse.
All that came from my attempts to refine how to better and more easily read aloud to my audience.
I always found that I was madly revising right up to the presentation. Punctuation wasn’t helpful, and working with line breaks led to a smoother delivery.
And of course, a characteristic style of writing, now.
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thanks good to know that, something I will definitely consider … although I dropped punctuation a few years ago 🙂
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I think all writers should read their work to audience, or at least aloud at home to make sure that what went onto the page reads as sweetly as it seemed to when leaving the pen.
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That’s great, Kate! One should definitely try new things! 👏🏽👏🏽 Maybe next time you go, you can find why there were fewer men!
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Thank you for sharing this!!!
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YAY!!! I’m so so SO proud of you!!! 🙂
Oh…maybe you can give it a go again?!?! First time at anything is always the scariest.
You have a journey…your words and thoughts…they need to hear! 🙂
HUGS!!! 🙂
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Quite an accomplishment, actually, building the confidence to overcome the self -doubts. It’s one thing to offer your poetry here, and quite another to do so when X pairs of eyes are focused on you. You did it, and persisted when so many would’ve talked themselves out of it.
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I’m quite used to public speaking but having just witnessed so many great ‘performers’ before me was daunting … speaking/reading is very different to performing!
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Hoorah for you. Proud of you.
I think you should give the public reading a try..You have much to share. 😉
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lol blogging is enough, I’m no performer by a long shot!
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Excellent, now get back on the horse (so to speak) 🙂
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have you read yours in public yet?
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I did do a couple a few years ago, and a local open mike night has just kicked off, so I’m looking to do it again, but I’m not excited by it. 🙂
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fascinating coz you were not posting poems two years ago?
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No, but I would write some periodically, not many.
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and had read them but never blogged them, curious!
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No, not up to scratch really.
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I have tried to find local groups. But not successfully. Though I have read in public a few times. Once I was supposed to be the last reader but the gal who put the group together upstaged me…and then another time the mixed group mostly of older folks – I had gotten my times mixed up and arrived late. But they were kind enough to stick around.
I think I might like a local group. But I rarely drive at night anymore. And the remaining local book store – the gent in charge of the poetry was at least in my opinion a tad full of himself. Perhaps we all need confidence, but not to the point of being exclusive of anyone not of the same opinion.
Good for you and may you continue to find a place in your new community. Sometimes though women’s groups like to be just that – full of and surrounded by women.
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yes the chap in charge here was definitely in charge! Welded totaly control and is a seasoned performer, not read his poetry yet but definitely very full of himself … I have an idea, let’s see if it comes to fruition 🙂
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Sounds like a fun night and right up your alley!
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absolutely a good time!
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Wow – that must be an stunning experience
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fun night but I would NOT call reading fun …
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