The problem with poetry readings
I like poetry. Well, some poetry. We all have our own tastes, and I’m no exception. But I find I can enjoy most poetry as long as it’s even halfway decent and read well.
And therein lies the seeds of today’s rant. The number one thing that spoils good poetry is bad reading. And in the case of a reading I recently attended, the biggest problem is one I see rampant at many readings: Poetic Gravitas.
You know what I’m talking about. That belief that Poetry is Serious Business and must be Intoned with the Proper Emotion and Reverance.
Now I’m all for emotion in poetry. I mean, dude, I write some pretty emotional stuff myself and my favorite works are those that evoke strong emotions of any variety. But Poetic Gravitas tends to suck all the real emotion out of a poem and replaces it with dramatic impressions of emotion, to the detriment of the piece being recited. It substitutes an overwrought 5 minute death scene, as it were, in place of a good, honest and heartfelt “Fuck!” uttered in surprised annoyance by the soon-to-be corpse as they fall to the floor.
And as for reverance, to me nothing is more reverential than just reading the damned thing with whatever real feelings you have for the piece and letting the audience work out their own feelings and meaning on their own. On the other hand, Poetic Gravitas spoon-feeds the work to the listeners in pre-digested bits and then tells them how it should taste.
Not to mention it really makes it hard to follow the flow and imagery of a poem when every single word is hauled out and set in place like a heavy rock and the lines are mortared together with pregnant pauses and exaggerated inhalations.
Seriously, dudes. Get over yourself. Read it with passion. Read it with energy and power and feeling. Or read it blankly and with no feeling at all, if that’s what the material calls for. But leave the Gravitas at home. Your audience will thank you.