There are so many updates to do. My recent reading in New York City, camping, and hawk watching with my boys—heck I haven’t even told you yet about the poetry conference in Paterson, NJ this summer!
But we’ll get to all of that. At least you know there are things to say, and I know there is more to come. Meanwhile, my youngest son is back at his recording gig, reading poems out loud more frequently than I have been doing lately. In fact, in this post, he has a recording of himself as well as a recording of a young lady at Poetry Out Loud competition reading this particular poem.
I think they are both fine interpretations. I’ve heard others that were too dramatic. Yes, there is such a thing as too dramatic in poetry readings. Generally, I find it best to strike a more even tone. Not monotone by any means. But if you add too many sighs and lilts of voice, too much of anything that isn’t clearly already on the page, you risk limiting the dynamic range of what was written. I realize I am biased, but I think Micah’s reading here is a good example of the less-is-more principle. It expresses just enough emotion to show that it’s human language but allows the poem to do its work without getting in the way by over-presentation.
In this reblogged form, you have to click below where it says “view original post” (or here) to hear Micah’s version.
Read this poem by clicking here.
There are several good readings like the one below. A few of them are from the Poetry Out Loud competition which introduced me to this poem.
Talk to me: