The Assignment: To create a piece of theatre out of a collage of poetry.
The Premise: A young man tries to confess his love to a girl he has admired from afar.
Before I Read This Poem
(The Young Man stands with a piece of paper in his hand. He unfolds the piece of paper. Looks at it. Looks at the girl. Looks back at the piece of paper and then re-folds the piece of paper.)
Before I read this poem, I would like to tell you some
things
About Myself
I know - I’m like you
I want to hear a poem
I want to say "yes" at the end
because I am sick of saying "so"
I want to see the thirst
inside the syllables
I want to touch the fire
in the sound
I want to learn something I didn’t know
I want to hear a poem
where ideas kiss similies so deeply that metaphors get jealous
I’m going to crumple this word
I’m going to twist it
yes
It’s too smooth
I want to hear a poem
I want to feel a poem
I want to taste a poem
(The Young Man's passion grows. He is almost yelling.)
Realizing
Each moment is history
Each moment is passion
Each action is meaning
(The Young man is embarassed. He unfolds the paper again.
Looks at it. Then speaks to the girl)
Before I read this poem, I want to tell you some
things
About Myself
Sometimes we don’t understand poets
They can’t have normal conversations
Without slipping into flowery language
or turning everything into a metaphor
The fact is too often the poet’s imagination
is overactive
We admit word smith’s aren’t
so bad when push comes to shove
But a lot of poets are like awkward cunnilingus
They tend to beat around the bush
it’s just that getting caught with your similies
exposed can be totally embarrassing
We aren’t opposed to all metaphors
or turning everything into a metaphor
(The Young Man is embarassed again. He looks to the piece of paper. Then speaks to the girl.)
Before I read this poem, I would like to tell you some
things
This is the first love poem I have ever written
Maybe you will forget about it by the time you wake up
tomorrow
(The Young Man is frustrated and exasperated. He folds the piece of paper again.)
Before I read this poem, I would like to tell you some
things
I know - I’m like you
I can’t stand this confessional poetry crap
My life isn’t a poem
And you still don’t know me
and I still don’t know myself
So if you want your poems to stay fresh
and clean (clean)
sometimes its better to just say
what you mean
(The Young Man rips up the piece of paper.)
Sometimes
Poetry isn’t Enough
(The Young Man watches the pieces of the poem float to the ground. He looks to the girl)
I fell in Love with you.
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2 comments:
Nice. I run that ol' trick with every girl
OK, so I don't know who you are. And if you are the original poet that I'm really sorry for pointing out the obvious, but that poem was written by Steve Colman you can read it in the Def Poetry Jam on Broadway book. It was published in 2003, I It's a brilliant book full of other inspirational work.
This poem is actually more than one poem spliced together. I just think you should give credit where credit is due. Plagerism is not only illegal, but it sucks too.
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