So a few months ago, I did a Thing. I’d done it once before, but on a much smaller scale.
Well, let me rewind a bit. A few months and a year ago, I performed at a fashion show on campus, and that’s how we ended up with this post. It was a fun time, with my pre-written poems and weeks of practice, but this year, I wanted to mix it up. Well, I didn’t want to, but I felt like I needed to. A good performer keeps the people on their toes right? That’s why I did the Thing.
I’ve been calling it Poetry on the Spot. During dress rehearsal, I went around and put Post It notes under some of the chairs. The notes had numbers 1-7 on it, and each number had a role.
1-4: pick your favorite word!
5: pick a number between 5 and 7!
6: get your phone’s timer ready
7: I hope your hands are steady!
The plan was to have people 1 through 5 come up on stage. 1 through 4 would all tell me their words, and 5 would give me their number. 6 would then set a timer for whatever number 5 gave me, and I’d have that many minutes to write a poem with the words from 1 through 4 while 5 entertained the audience.
In retrospect, this may have been overwhelming. Anyway.
There were some technical difficulties, but I got my words (crazy, courage, warm, lovely) and my minutes (5) and the audience was entertained while I came up with a poem. You can tell I was nervous about literally everything, but honestly, it went really well… it just took me a long time to realize. I think it took me an hour to calm down after that performance, because HUH? I really left it all up to God and decided to wing it. It’s hard enough to share something pre-written, but here I was with no idea what to expect from myself. I distinctly remember having an “what did I get myself into” moment when people started to check under their seats, and there were A LOT of people. I don’t remember performing this piece right afterwards, because my mind was wrapped up in trying to understand what I’d just done. People asked me how I could focus up there… I really don’t know. It’s kinda wild to see myself writing during, but also laughing at, the lovely commercial break that the hosts put on––why can’t I multitask like that when it’s time to study? It’s crazy what you can do when you set your mind to it *future Easter egg*.
This isn’t a super deep post (or is it?), I just needed to stop sleeping on myself. I have written some poetry since then, so be on the lookout! I also had to start using YouTube to upload the video, so I’ll probably start putting old performances up on there soon. But here’s the poem as (I think) it was meant to be:
“Isn’t she lovely?” they sing
I say, “isn’t she crazy?”
to love this courageously?
do you know what it takes to bare your heart in a world like this?
a place like this?
to be this courageous?
they say, “she feels like home
she feels warm
welcoming
enticing
lovely”
she says, “love me, or let me be”
I think she’s crazy
crazy from all she’s been through, because she still manages to do what you’ll expect
she’s still lovely
enticing
welcoming
warm
she still feels like home
so she let’s them sing
isn’t she lovely?
and she sings along
she wants that to be her favorite song
she doesn’t want them to be wrong
I am pretty damn lovely
I don’t usually explain my poems, but I packed a lot into this one and want to make sure it comes across. Should I share my annotation? Or should I wrap up my Samaria and (com)pati- series first? Let me know in the comments!
be blessed bbys ✨
Vessel in the Valley 