What do you say, to yourself and others, about these days we are living through? How are you describing the events, people, known and unknown, the circumstances and situations you witness or find yourself encountering? Your words may be heard by a few, by many or you alone, either way you give voice to the tenor of these times.
Is the sound of your voice An Octave Above Thunder or is it filled with Planetary Noise? Poets endeavor to describe the indescribable capability of words to transform the ordinary into something newly imagined. The poet is a seeker, they seek to give voice, to answer the unanswerable hours of a day.
A poem can live on a page, come alive in a throat and become Beautiful in the Mouth or not. The work of a poet is to strive to get at the intricate wiring in the throat so that they may make a poem “sing” when it is voiced. Some Say the Lark and Baby Wrens’ Voices are what we long to hear; others swear that Arias are full of Lies and Longing.
Only you, dear readers, will decide whether any poem you read, truly, speaks to you. When, and if, it does you may, also, decide that you want that poem in your throat, on your teeth and on the tip of your tongue.
Reading a poem can provide insight and understanding. Reciting that same poem moves the poem from your mind down into your throat. Try this, especially, with a poem you have never read and with a familiar poem. Read the poem, silent and, then, recite it. A recited poem resonates throughout the body. The sound of each word resounds within you. The voice of the poem, its cadence, tenor and utterances expands one’s experience of the work.
See what happens with the poem, The Piano Speaks, by Sandra Beasley. Read the poem, recite it and, then, click on the audio to hear the poet read her work. The resource list An April Quartet: Tenor, in the Tenor of these Times, Raise Your Voice High includes this poem as well as other poems that center on the voice.
Every minute of the day, in seconds and hours, the world says Speak to Me! Speak up! Speak Back! Mother Talks Back to the Monsters and so can you!
This is one in a multi-part series. Read An April Quartet, Part I: In Alto, Poets Face That Discordant Sound; An April Quartet, Part II: Some Soprano Sops a Poem’s Bread (the Rising); and An April Quartet, Part III: Bass Note of Blue, the Flowering .
~ posted by Chris.
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