For Reading Out Loud (2)
(Pink houses in a sunny Ireland )
(Shamrock)My 15 minute reading included the following poems:
1. A Lady in the Bath with Angels (Late, late show, angels, hunkyness)
2. Sing me a Sort of Lily-the-Pink Song (liquer, inner-self, smoothie kiss, clover)
3. Sunday with Ritual (childhood memories, The Brylcream Bounce, show-them-I'm-a-lady, HB Neapolitan ice-cream)
4. Compartmentalise (unrechargeable batteries, glove compartment of car, The Joker, Batwoman)
5. Feet and Mouth and Shoes (Iraq journalist, show-throwing incident, barefootedness, steeping feet, catwalks, platform shoes)Listowel Winning Poem
6. Sometimes When You Are Bent Over Chopping Leeks (red carpet, lucky stars, conquering the world )
The amazing thing was that I found myself enjoying reading very much, maybe it had to do with the fact that the room was awash with that gorgeous evening light or maybe from the sheer relief of actually being up there at last ...and most definitely from seeing smiling familiar faces.
I tried to keep to humorous poems with shots of surprise! One funny incident was when I was looking towards my friends, I could see one was wearing her sunglasses and I remember thinking 'funny, her wearing them indoors'...the other was when I saw three or four other friends with their heads down and I thought 'Oh my god, am I shaming the life out of them!' Apart from these miscellaneous thoughts, I kept going and remembered thinking 'This isn't too bad!'
It was afterwards that, to my great relief, I discovered the reason behind the head-bowing-friends, apparently because of the very unusual and glorious evening, the sun was setting behind my head as I was reading in front of a georgian window... the evening-halo-affect was in full-swing and the people who were straight down from me and looking right towards the window were being blinded by the sun and could not actually look at me or make out my face hence the lowered heads... they said it was quite uncanny hearing my voice but being unable to see me clearly, just a wispy halo affect...hope this isn't a sign that I've become the poet with the blinding affect....vroom, vroom! ; )
posted by Liz at 11:18 a.m.
5 Comments:
Wish I could have heard you!
Glad to read you enjoyed it. If you did then it's very likely the audience did too. Well done, well done!
x
What a lovely scene to be describing. I remember seeing heads bowed at a reading I did a long time ago, and thought they had all fallen asleep or switched off. Later I discovered that they were really into the sounds! :)
I think this sounds like a glorious reading - a great experience for you and a lovely venue to have it happen at :)
Would really have liked to hear those.i don't know any of the others but thelily the pink one is deadly.With the Halo and all, do you think you should be beatified as St Liz?
Mimi, thanks...once I get my new laptop up and running and a spare minute, I'm hoping to do a recording for the blog. : )
Rachel, thanks...I remembered your advice about the audience wanting the reader to succeed ...that not failing was for their benefit too... : )
Barbara, thanks...yeah, the venue was just wonderful, it made me feel like a real poet even if only for the length of the reading... ; )
TFE, halo safely wrapped in newspaper and in bottom drawer...but seriously, trust the sun in Ireland to interfere with my reading...typical! ; )
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