Oral Poetry: Trying a new writing process

Posted bymarialbergPosted inExploring, music, poetryTags:, , , , , , , , , ,

The Poetics challenge from Ingrid at dVerse Poets Pub is to write a poem without writing it down. This intrigued me and sounded like a great way to start exploring some ideas for this month’s Changing Focus project around the theme “reflections.”

I thought I’d share this vocal warm-up I like to do before recording (because it’s fun):

Yesterday, I discovered that the bass effects pedal I’ve had for many years, has a built in drum machine, so hold onto your hats world.

Focus on Reflections words and music by Maria L. Berg

Focus on Reflections

I face a self-imposed focus
on reflections
a month of looking
of looking in mirrors
looking at me

not turning away
looking further
and deeper
finding the deep waters
past the imperfections

What will I find there?
What does reflection
smell like? What is its
taste? How will I get to
the point where I
only see what I like?

All those flaws
become only a reflection
only the light
hitting a chip in the mirror
everything reflects light
all we see is a reflection


*That was an interesting experience. After finding a drum beat and recording the drum and bass. I played it back while saying lines to the room. When I felt like the concept was flowing, I recorded myself, then typed up what I said as if transcribing. That was fun. I think I’ll play with that a lot.

Cover of The Cynic in Extremis, a poetry collection by Jacob M. Appel. There is a picture of a grumpy looking pug wrapped in a furry blanket.

I hope all of you will come by this Thursday, Sept. 2, and read a special guest post about revision by Jacob M. Appel. I recently enjoyed his poetry collection, The Cynic in Extremis. I found it both entertaining and provocative.

Published by marialberg

I am an artist—abstract photographer, fiction writer, and poet—who loves to learn. Experience Writing is where I share my adventures and experiments. Time is precious, and I appreciate that you spend some of your time here, reading and learning along with me. I set up a buy me a coffee account, https://buymeacoffee.com/mariabergw (please copy and paste in your browser) so you can buy me a beverage to support what I do here. It will help a lot.

18 thoughts on “Oral Poetry: Trying a new writing process”

  1. Pingback: Changing Focus Blogging Challenge Highlights: Reflections – wRighTing My Life
  2. Pingback: September’s Changing Focus Blog Challenge: Reflections | Experience Writing

    1. Thank you, Merril. I’ll be working on a multi-media project with the theme “reflections” this month (until the 24th). I hope I find some fun approaches to feed your obsession 🙂

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  9. I really enjoyed this, Maria – I think the drum beats add an extra layer of drama and intensity. I love how the final line can be read in two different ways:

    all we see is a reflection

    – the beauty of the light can only be seen by us as a reflection, and yet how beautiful to see that reflection everywhere!

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