Just another love-sick poet

As reported by the worthy charnel doze, another season of Poetry & Jazz has come to an end. This, though, was my first as a performer. What is more, it was the first real-world (non-blog) public airing of my poetry. Read my poems here, here, and here.

It's an odd performance experience. The poet-performer is thoroughly exposed to the audience in an intimate café setting. No twitch, fumble, flicker of the eye, momentary lapse, or badly chosen word gets missed. This led to a situation where I, as a performer, felt that perhaps I put up more emotional shields than would have been the case on a normal stage. I made little eye contact, as this disturbed my concentration. I gave very little physical embodiment of the poetry, as the space was restricted.

The response was good, but two comments stay with me. One audience member congratulated me with the words "well acted", and a friend told me that a companion had thought me "arrogant".

Ah well. If this was my attempt at presenting myself, rather than a character in a play, there's some food for thought before I try it again.