Once Upon A Time, I didn’t know what Spoken Word really was – I thought it was very formulaic and unpleasant, and then one of my Sisterwives BLEW. MY. MIND with a piece she did. That said, she used to be ON THE CIRCUIT, darlings, so it stands to reason that she was amazing.
But here’s the thing (and I don’t know if this is a poet thing or a writer thing or just an ‘I want some of that Kool Aid’ thing, but when I read (or, apparently, hear) a really good poem, I often find myself responding in kind.
Hasty frequently inspires me to poetry. Recently, Jess did.
But the person who inspired me in a truly terrifying* way was Samara. And Hasty liked the result so much that SHE kindly offered to share it, so head on over and see what I came up with.
And be sure to let me know what you think**.
Thanks so, SO much for this, Beth – it’s perfect for today *mwah*
*’Terrifying’ because of me being SO VERY ANXIOUS about this, and in spite of several reassurances that it’s a reasonable piece, I’m STILL worried about what you’ll think.
**PLEASE don’t leave me with nothing!!!
You have a lovely, soothing voice, very easy on the ears. I liked the way you played with tone and pace to create the feelings you wanted to stir. It can be viewed as manipulative but then, so too, can any sort of acting. Which is how I view spoken word for general consumption. Speaking your words to the public in this way is nerve-wracking initially but positive feedback makes all the difference. What can make it so very special is that your listeners get to hear how you interpret your own poetry/words, the intention behind the writing. I always enjoy listening to accents – except my own ! – makes me cringe.
I’d say, from listening to you, and from all the positive feedback you have received that you have found a new means of communicating to the world at large that lets you stroke minds with sound as well as words. And that is why we write. To touch. You touched beautifully.
And now, I’ll copy and paste this comment on the page where your words touched me.x
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Wow….I love your comment, and your thoughts! Thank you so, so much for taking the time to share them with me. I think you’re right – we none of us like our own voice, but appreciate the timbre and touch of other people’s far more 🙂
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Youre very welcome. It was a pleasure to listen. I enjoy hearing people speak, the astounding range of sounds and accents wash over me. I met with a Canadian blogging buddy a few months back and I’m sure I must have embarrassed myself at times, staring while she spoke! (When she could get a word in edgewise !) I even had her leave a voicemail message on my daughter’s phone so she could hear her too. She loves accents as well. 🙂
I’ll look forward to your next one.
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I should probably think about doing a ‘next one’! EEEK! Scary thought. I love hearing different accents though, and that’s the wonderful thing with something like WhatsApp, which lets me hear my friend’s voices from different places around the world. I love that 🙂
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You had me captured by each syllable that flowed though your voice to my mind.
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Perfect 🙂 That’s exactly what I wanted to happen 🙂
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Sparkle!! I heard it and left a comment and then realised you had an update here as well. So flew here to tell you again…that I truly loved it. Because I so did. It was so amazing!! *throws sparkle letters in the air*
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Yaaaaay!! I will head on over and see what you left for me there. Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 *dances with the cloud of tiny, shiny letters, urging them to whirl around faster and faster until they can no longer help themselves and begin to rearrange into words…*
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I fucking loved it.
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Yaaaaaaaay! 😀 Thank you 😀
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Well, I liked it…. (however, as to Comment over there, I am still working on it, as I’m working on the premiss that I should be able to explain what I like about it, poeticistically-speaking… I will complete there, after writing this…here)
…because your presence echoes from the same vast cave* that I live the world in and though I may not see exactly where you are, your ripples resonate with me… because our our common worldviews.
* no, rogerian readers! I’m not trying to conjure up a darkness (at least not primarily or exclusively) with these words…it simply feels like it.
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Bit machiavellian, what? Beth called me out on it straight away – “manipulative” (see? TOLD YOU!). Wrong to like the power? NO! *grinning* These were fun ripples to make. And look! Awesome response to…whatever it was 😀
I’ll pop over to see what you left me there 😀
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I can’t wait to go over and check it out. I have a feeling that you are a natural, Lizzi. I’ll pop over first thing tomorrow morning…heading off to a wrestling meet right now.
Your multiple talents cease to amaze me, my friend!
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Lol I hope you like it. I have been bowled over by the level of enthusiasm I’ve received about this. Seriously ASTONISHED.
I hope the wrestling is really good fun to watch 🙂
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The wrestling was good and your spoken word was out of this world. I left you a comment over there…but, seriously, Lizzi…WOW! Your voice was the voice I often imagined when I read my book of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Gorgeous on so many levels! xoxoxo
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Ahhh I’m glad you had fun at wrestling. And THANK YOU so very much! I shall pop over and see what you left for me there. Hasty’s such a darling to share this piece for me. It would have stayed buried if she hadn’t convinced me it was worth a try.
And thank you! Now I want to read a fairytale for everyone 😀 Hehehe
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That would be divine! It’s a tattered old book with beautiful Arthur Rackham illustrations. I spent days buried between those pages.
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Now that sounds like a BEAUTIFUL book. I love it. I’d also want to read you some Gerald Durrell, just because he’s AMAZING.
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*jots down Gerald Durrell…thank you!
It’s so difficult (for me, anyway) to find Arthur Rackham illustrated books, so I just started pinning his stuff on Pinterest. Now I can get a fix any time I want!
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Pingback: LET ME FEED YOU SPOKEN WORD | The Lunatic, the Lover & the Poet
Over there…left my comment.
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Awesome. Will follow the trail of elipses…
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I leave those around a bit…
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LOVE elipses…kind of like trailing off into thought, yaknow? 🙂
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Which is usually why I end up with them. 😀 They’re like breadcrumbs…in case I have to find my way back.
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They’re wonderful. Perhaps my third favourite punctuation mark 🙂
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I would never ever ever EVER leave you with NOTHING!!! You reading the phone book is absolutely mesmerizing… I mean it! Your voice and accent and dialect is breathtaking, I can only imagine what it sounds like set to poetry.
Off I go!! (And yes, Samara’s piece STRUCK hard. Amazing, and potent that girl.)
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Samara’s piece was INCREDIBLE. Honestly, it blew my mind (if that’s not completely obvious over there!)
I hope you will like it – I will follow up and see what you said 😀
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WOW! Ok…my ‘Murican is about to show. Get your BLUSH ready. I would totally call 1-900-Lizzi just to hear you talk. Sexy sexy sexy. That was an experience and I’m not ashamed to say I am totally going to listen to it AGAIN!
Thank you Hasty! And Samara! And of course Lizzi for sharing. 😍
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*blushes furiously* Hehehe you have NO idea – you should hear me when I have a chest cold and I got The Voice going… 😉 I feel like I could fund my entire trip to America several times over by having a 1-900 number at those times! 😉
Thank you though, I’m glad you liked it so much 😀
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I LOVED it. So much so it’s got me thinking if I can do it. May have to do some study…gotta remember to add Hasty’s post to my bookmarks bar. 😉
I know what you mean about the voice…don’t ask me how I know, just know I know EXACTLY what you mean. Remember my video? Yeah, voice gets deeper when I get a chest cold.
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*squeeeeee* you just REBLOGGED ME, TOO! Ohhhh thank you so very much 😀
Hasty is an incredible, amazing, WONDERFUL poet – seriously, I fell for her words after the first couple of poems. And after the first few conversations, I pretty much just fell for HER. 🙂
Ohhhhh The Voice is AWESOME – I love it. The ONE redeeming feature of a chest cold. *grins*
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I haven’t read much of Hasty’s writing but I absolutely will after today.
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It. Is. DELICIOUS. Delectable. Delightful. Dark. Damn good. ALL THE D’s…
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Copying my comment from the other posting . . . It was brilliant and beautiful, I think I made that clear 😉 at the very least I tried. It was a brave thing to do and I hope you do more because it was a pleasure, such a pleasure.
~~
Oh my goodness . . . sweet and dear and beautiful Lizzi . . . Your voice just wrapped around my fricking heart and gave it such a squeeze, gentle enough, though it took my breath away. It paused for a moment while my heart wondered if it should smile or cry and it couldn’t decide so it did both.
I wish you could sit here, on my side of the screen and listen, just listen with ears that are hearing your voice for the very first time and feel what a pleasant power it holds. It is a lovely voice, a voice worthy to speak the words which spring from inside of you.
I feel blessed and amazed and am going to listen once more, likely many times more, as soon as I hit send.
It was perfect, there is no doubt. You did good, so, so good my sweet.
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Crystal, what with this comment and with you reblogging this…honestly, I feel quite as though my breath has been taken away! I am overwhelmed with how much you (and others) like this…I feel very, very unremarkable – very ordinary and really as though I’ve not done something all that huge, and to hear that you’ve experienced it in such a thrilling, glorious way, is….amazing and wonderful and exciting and astonishing and I’m absolutely blown away by your fabulous response.
Thank you so, so much ❤ 🙂
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I find the greatest of beauty in what some might mistakenly see as ordinary. Ordinary is subjective. To me, this was extraordinary and I can’t help but wish I could come up with something as wonderful to give as a gift to those willing to receive it. You did super good 🙂
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Well, wow! Thank you 😀 And thank you! And then thank you more 😀
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wow… this is so serendipitous! Love this!
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I KNOW….wait, what was serendipitous? I’m glad you liked it though 🙂 Thank you, my dear Bard.
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awwww and you used the quote I sent you. Awesomesauce. 🙂
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Duh! I TOLD you it was perfect 😀
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IT’S SO GOOOOOOOOOOD!!!
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I’m just so happy you like it, and THANK YOU for being one of the people I was able to share it with and seek feedback from. Without you and Hasty, this never would have happened. You were the first people I went to and the first to encourage me 🙂
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You do realize my lovely that I had begged you to do spoken word even before Samara because I’ve had you read to me….and….thank God Samara inspired you to actually do it.
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I like reading poetry to you…but the WORLD?! ALSO, I will say (because I’m stupid at poetry) that I never thought EVER that what I was doing would ‘count’ – I thought I was just reading them out to you, and that you liked hearing them in my voice, and it made me happy to read to you. I thought spoken word was that formulaic, desperate, earnest kind of thing, and it would always make me anxious and turn it off. Until Samara’s, when I fell head over heels for it.
Thank you so, SO MUCH for believing in me when I didn’t, and for offering to have this at your site, so that people would understand it was about poetry and not just me goofing around…it’s still a teensy bit scary, but THANK YOU 🙂
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You have nothing to be afraid of, Lizzi. That was wonderful and perhaps, motivational . . . if I can get over my own fears of courese.
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I hope you can! I’d love to hear what you would create. And…I have to tell you, however much you think I oughtn’t be afraid, I still was. Very. Because this is SO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT to anything I’ve ever done before. And I had no idea what I was doing.
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I talk big, but I am afraid too.
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Send it to one person you trust, first, and see what they think. Then send it to another. And maybe one more, to be certain. That’s how I did it.
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