LET ME FEED YOU SPOKEN WORD

/ January 28, 2015

I get to showcase two incredibly talented people today.  Lizzi with Considerings and Samara with SamaraSpeaks.  Samara is showcased in this post in a round-a-bout way but I am crossing my fingers that one day she will write something for this blog directly.  However, in the meantime you will see a glimpse of her as Lizzi has written a beautiful post about the power of inspiration.

When Lizzi writes her words are living characters that take shape and form real acrobatic expressions on a page.  If you have texted with her then you know what I mean.

BUT she also has an amazing speaking voice, not just because she has an English accent but because it is soothing and gentle.  I imagine Mother Goose sounding just like Lizzi…reading all the children in the world into a peaceful dream filled slumber.  Many times just hearing her voice will cut through any anxiety I might have had.

Please leave her some encouraging comments because I had to beg her to do this for me….

Introducing Lizzi and her voice 🙂

 

Then I Spoke

LET ME FEED YOU SPOKEN WORD by Lizzi

“Write something for me. Anything you want. And make it beautiful.”

When such an instruction is issued by someone who is as wonderful a friend and wholly as delightful a human being as Hasty, there is really only one response – “Yes ma’am!”

I’ve been featured here before, which is wonderful. Hasty and I have written several duets (as always, I would love to write one more with her) and she has been generous enough to reblog two of my posts (a deep thrill each time, because it’s such an honour that anyone thinks highly enough of my writing to give their site over to it entirely), but now I am so excited to be featured here on purpose, by request, to entertain you.

I hope I don’t let you down!

Since entering the Blogosphere a little over two years ago, I discovered, in small corners of the internet, performances of Spoken Word poetry. I wasn’t keen on them – they seemed too earnest, too frantic and too desperate to make me BELIEVE in their message, that their tone got caught up in all the anxiety and became intolerable; filled with gasps for breath and tumbling sibilants – until quite recently.

What happened was that Samara (who used to DO Spoken Word) messaged me about a piece she wanted to share at Sisterwives. She wanted my feedback on it, and my heart sank, anticipating the same style as I’d experienced elsewhere. Sadly (because I adore her and didn’t want to have to give her the negative feedback my integrity would compel me to impart) I said yes, and clicked the link.

I began to listen, with my expectations set firmly to ‘low’.

It. Blew. My. Mind.

Samara’s performance poured into my ears like wine, intoxicating me. It was playful, captivating, sexy, magnetic and just about the most fun I think anyone could have with headphones on. Her voice danced, strutted, teased, and imparted the story of her childhood, just for me to hear.

I melted for it, and by the time the piece had ended, I was almost purring. I gave my feedback in excited, ALL CAPS superlatives, and promptly listened to the poem another four times in a row. Each time I grew more aware of the fact that on a visceral level, the response I was experiencing was a strong desire to lick her brain (don’t ask!).

To say I was inspired would be an understatement – I had NO idea that Spoken Word could be like this. But I was scared and it took the reassurance of Hasty and others (including, eventually, Samara, once I’d plucked up courage to share my paltry first attempt with such a master of the art) before I felt ‘in a place’ to share it with The Blogosphere at large.

Writing it was the easy part (after all, I *do* po an –em from time to time) but performing it was nerve-wracking and recording it was a nightmare, HOWEVER, buoyed by the memory of the intimacy and entertainment of Samara’s piece, I decided to try playing a little with my listeners…in my very best (adorable) English accent.

Give it a try… 😉

I began with little concept of Spoken Word.
I thought it was story, like poetry;
A way to get you to listen to what I want heard.
But I was wrong,
My assessments way off-base
And quite beside the point
Because all along, the reason for this
Right here. Right now.
Is you.
And I don’t care who else listens to this
Or tries to tell me otherwise;
For the remainder of the time I have your ear
You
Are my world:
The centre of my universe,
As though every step on every path I took
Through life
Brought me to this point…
…so what is it?
Your experience, laid in my hands
Naïve, untutored and as yet unable to understand
The things I’m going to do
To you.
You might think it’s only talking, but it’s so much more
It’s magic
It’s waltzing with your neurones on the dancefloor of your mind.
And quite frankly if you don’t think it’s amazing
I challenge you to find something better
But to be honest, what do you even KNOW?
Sat there behind your screen
Plugged in
Zoned out
Slow…
How DARE you criticise – you charlatan!
Pretending to own such wisdom
As though you were better than me!
And just like that, we change places,
For a charlatan is all I am.
You busted me – you win.
It’s all a crazy circus ride, come in and take a spin;
Turn your eyes to the lights and sawdust
See the tumbling phrases scale the heights and plummet
Their one aim to make you catch your breath in wonder –
To keep you entertained.
Oh sweetheart, it’s okay.
Stay and watch the tearful, smiling clowns
And laugh at the jokes they play
As they drag from the centre of your mind
That melancholy thread of self-doubt
And begin to wind it around and around
Drawing failures from your like knotted scarves
And putting them on show, for fucksake, STOP them
Or everyone will know your very worst secrets!
Make it stop, make it stop, cos you can never trust a clown
Don’t trust, don’t trust them, don’t trust them ever
Ever, because they’re always around and waiting for you to fall
And we. WILL. See…
Hide!
Quick!
Come back with me
And shelter under the table of my mind –
Find your happy place
Where trees stretch out their branches,
The ocean breathes and washes the shore
And the sun always shines…
Let yourself relax – you’re safe
It’s warm
And I can guarantee no verbal attacks
So don’t give in – don’t fear – just trust me…
Because like I said, it’s all about YOU
And the way these plain old words
Can make you FEEL –
Angry, anxious, chilled – whatever the deal
The thing which blows my mind
Is that all of it began as marks on page
As thoughts became physical rhymes.
And believe me, baby, I’m only here for you –
There’s nothing else right now that I’d rather do
Than lift my cup of scented thoughts
And have you drink them in;
Let them pour over you like golden syrup
Let them shimmer and drench your skin.
Let me use long strings of words
Like knotted French silk stretched taut against your limbs,
And BELIEVE ME,
I’m going to use every. last. syllable
To rub the meaning in…
…do I win?
Ohhhhh…and there we go!
You gave me your mind
Never knowing what unexpected things were in store
In this meta-game, where my brain just led yours
On a merry dance – and now it’s over
Are you glad?
Was it weird?
Would you tell a friend
To take the chance and see
What kind of thing or think or feel they heard
When they opened up
And let me feed them
Spoken word.

 

lizzi

 

Lizzi is a Deep Thinker, Truth-Teller and seeker of Good Things. She’s also silly, irreverent and tries to write as beautifully as possible.

She’s living Life in Silver Linings and *twinklysparklygoodness* because two miscarriages and a subsequent diagnosis of spousal infertility will rather upset anyone’s applecart. She borrows other people’s children to love in the meantime.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Considerings
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LRConsiderer
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+LizziR/posts
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111 thoughts on “LET ME FEED YOU SPOKEN WORD”

    • Seriously, best Mother Goose in the world and if a movie is ever made with her you should play her…beautiful, kind, and I can see you lulling the kids into slumber and waking all the men folk at the same time 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

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      • I never read Mother Goose -perhaps I should! I know nothing of her at all but she sounds like an intriguing character. And as for voice, my Sunset, you know that I think yours is nothing short of fabulous 😀

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  4. I enjoyed it 😀 You can hear the smiles in your voice.

    I’ve toyed with doing this *resisting urge to shut up now and run away*
    I used to do alot of telephone work and got lots of compliments on my voice, but I cringe when I hear myself on the answerphone lol. But I write, you see, and I wonder……

    But go you! Lovely words, beautifully spoken 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Ohhhhh TRY IT! And send it to a good friend, first, because they’ll give you honest feedback on THEIR perspective of it – the audience perspective. Cos I think we all sound completely awful to ourselves – when I listen to this I just feel hideously embarrassed of my voice, but it’s about what other people think, and so far the responses have been lovely and very encouraging.And thank you for your compliments 🙂

      I do try to make sure I speak with a smile, though – it makes a difference.

      Ohhhh I want you to try this, even if it goes nowhere.

      Liked by 1 person

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    • This was the first that I recorded on soundcloud, and the first that I shared publicly. The first ever that I WROTE was the other one. The one you kept 🙂

      I’m SO glad it was fun. It was meant to be a fun piece, and a bit of a meta-look at the point of spoken word and how it can impact the listener. Seems it went well, which is amazing and astonishing and AWESOME. And again, thank you for your support and encouragement in this…you truly made a HUGE difference.

      Liked by 1 person

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  7. Oh my goodness . . . sweet and dear and beautiful Lizzi . . . Your voice just wrapped around my fricking heart and gave it such a squeeze, gentle enough, though it took my breath away. It paused for a moment while my heart wondered if it should smile or cry and it couldn’t decide so it did both.

    I wish you could sit here, on my side of the screen and listen, just listen with ears that are hearing your voice for the very first time and feel what a pleasant power it holds. It is a lovely voice, a voice worthy to speak the words which spring from inside of you.

    I feel blessed and amazed and am going to listen once more, likely many times more, as soon as I hit send.

    It was perfect, there is no doubt. You did good, so, so good my sweet.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • YAY! Now that’s VERY cool feedback. As I listened to Samara’s piece, I realised that I loved the intimacy created by listening to her poem on headphones, and I decided I’d like to play with that. So really, it WAS just to you…yaknow? 🙂 I’m glad you liked it and thankful beyond belief that this piece has had such positive feedback 🙂

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  11. Reblogged this on The Qwiet Muse and commented:
    Lizzi is a weaver of words figuratively, creatively, and when you listen you will she does it quite literally.

    I fell in love with her ability to make magic with her thoughts, then I found out she was a little bit of magic herself, the not afraid to do the trick even if you aren’t sure it will work kind of magic. It always works.

    It isn’t the pseudo magic of grand illusion people gather in audiences to see, knowing none of it is real but pretending it is to justify the cost of admission. Her magic is free and better than what the man in the cape who hides his secrets behind the curtain offers . . . Her magic is quite real and raw and you know it is magic when you see it.

    I’ve listened to her voice in black and white, printed on pages, shining up at me from a screen, but now, I have heard it for realsies and it is just as lovely as I imagined it would be and that makes the magic sparkle even more.

    Liked by 2 people

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  14. gorgeous.

    If I sounded like you, I would record every damn thing I wrote. The words are amazing, but hearing you speak them creates an intimacy we’ve already discussed. Maybe this will start a Thing, a crusade to break down the
    “4th wall” of blogging more often. xxooo

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Heheh I just don’t think I sound anything out of the normal, really! Maybe I have a future in radio, who knows 😀 But yes – that intimacy was SUCH fun to play with, and I think that if we used it as a tool at SW, it could get a HUGE response 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

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    • It was, IT WAS! That’s PRECISELY the point and EXACTLY how I wanted it to be received. Ohhhhh that’s perfect 😀 Thank you so much, for letting me know 😀 I’m so glad you smiled for it.

      (NOW THEN (seeing as we’re here) I’ve been wanting to ask you forever cos I never get round to thinking about it when you’re in the same kind of space as I am – do you prefer to be called Kimberly?)

      Like

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  16. Lizzi, the minute it started, I got chills. I almost took a picture and sent it to you. Your voice is like the warm syrup you mentioned, and you called me baby. Wait, you were talking to me, right?

    You clever little minx. Why are you so brilliant? I don’t know anyone else who can string words together like you. Well done, you.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • *grins* All just for you, Squishy, mine 😉 When I listened to Samara’s piece in my headphones, one of the things which really struck me was the incredible feeling of intimacy there, and I wanted to have a bit of a play with it… *grins more*

      I’m so glad you liked it, and hearing that not only did it sparkle your brain, but that you had a physical reaction to it as well…that’s incredible (dang, you DO know how to leave good comment – you know ezackherly what I would love to hear 🙂 )

      Ackkk I can’t wait to speak with you In Real! 😀 And thank you for your lovely compliments on this piece.

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  18. Ahhh….. I’m nice and soggy now, having soaked in your lyrical, soft and precise vocal art. I LOVED it!!! My favorite part was when you chuckle or sigh… I feel the TRUE innocent breath come from you. You DID IT!!! LOVE!!!

    Liked by 1 person

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    • *grinning* Now THAT’S quite the compelling image, Kitty – is that cos we were talking about baths the other night? :p I’m so glad you liked this, and that you found it entertaining 😀 Believe me there was nothing precise about getting it done – this was the one I gave up and said ‘GOOD ENOUGH!’ after a bajillion times of it recording and then not saving.

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  19. Ohhhh, Lizzi! I love to hear your voice! And the words, oh my god, the words. Who would’ve thought that the words that are so beautiful on the page become even more so, even more alive and intoxicating, when spoken by you?

    Liked by 2 people

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    • *whispers* Not me! I am SO completely astonished by the response to this. Like…utterly, utterly flabberghasted. And so thrilled to pieces. I’m so glad you liked it. I had fun writing the poem, a horrid time trying to record it, and this…this influx of overwhelming praise is just…incredible! I am sat here, responding to everyone, GRINNING MY HEAD OFF 😀

      Liked by 1 person

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  20. Very nice. I have always thought that poetry should always be read aloud. Always. Not that much can’t be gained from sitting and reading quietly with oneself, of course. Deep and silent and personal is often a good way to go. But it demands to be spoken aloud, whether with a group or alone. The speaking does the words justice.

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    • I was never a big reader of poetry…I wrote, and my Soulie and I used to have poetry-offs, but this is really the first time I’ve read a piece out which wasn’t a comic piece, and certainly I NEVER feel comfortable reading my writing out loud, but I’m so, so glad it’s been enjoyable 😀

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  21. Pingback: In which I Spoken Word-ed | Considerings

  22. Reblogged this on The Lunatic, the Lover & the Poet and commented:
    Since I’m not feeling all the well today and get fuzzy trying to sit up for too long I’m reblogging the most amazing thing I’ve heard today. Truly, it is incredible and inspirational. The voice belongs to my wonderful friend Lizzi. Give her a shout in her comments on her page here: https://summat2thinkon.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/in-which-i-spoken-word-ed/comment-page-1/#comment-36550

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  23. Pingback: The Lunatic, The Lover & The Poet | LET ME FEED YOU SPOKEN WORD | hastywords

  25. (I wrote a Comment over at ‘Considerings’, promising to write here, in this place, something that showed and displayed what I ‘got from’ this … piece, this work, the poem (when spoken aloud by the author, could that not, more properly be, poem-me?)
    Two words: damn!

    the words are cool
    the thoughts and concepts are intimately familiar
    the performance… that’s where you’ve added an element that lets even a poetry-deaf life form like me sit up and say, ‘damn!’

    Liked by 2 people

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  26. 😀 loved the bit about Mother Goose!!

    Lizzie, you are a ray of sunshine and never fail to bring a smile to my face 🙂 I hung onto every word you said and had me entangled in the Spoken Word for quite a bit there.

    Felt good.

    Thank you 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I had to get Hasty to explain a WHOLE bunch more about Mother Goose, but I’ll take it – I quite like the idea of being the Grandmother of all the Fairytales, even if I’m far too young for it yet. Glad you liked the poem so much, Pooja – it was fun to write and to perform (the first time, not the next five, as I tried to save the durn thing) and VERY scary to let people listen to, but I am OVERWHELMED at the positivity of the response 😀

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  30. Yes! Yes! You win 🙂

    Samara’s piece was the first poem I’d ever heard spoken and yours is the second. My goodness…what I have been missing! You ladies have talents tucked into every sweet nook of your being.

    Lizzi, this was divine and definitely a piece that lived through your awesome, wonderful voice. Actually, it took on a life of its own. I read it yesterday (without sound) and appreciated the words for what they were. And then to hear you speak…yes, it felt like you were here just for me. Isn’t that what hope our words do? Reach out and grab from behind the flicker of the screen.
    AH-mazing, my friend!

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    • *giggles and dances for happiness* I’m so pleased! Ohhhh thank you for such a lovely response. I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and it’s lovely to know that even though you read the poem first, and then came back to the voice, you experienced it so differently, and that it felt the way it did. Thank you for such glorious feedback 🙂

      To be fair, I was really put off spoken word at first – the manner of the pieces I’d seen delivered so far (until Samara’s piece) were just a bit repellant, and very intense. Samara’s was intense in an entirely different way. It was like an immersion. I loved it 🙂

      And YAY for breaking the fourth wall 😀

      Liked by 1 person

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      • So interesting to hear that you were initially “put off.” I was right there with you!
        Before this, the only access I had to spoken poetry was open mic at a local coffee shop. Honestly, I didn’t feel sophisticated enough to listen! You and Samara did such a wonderful job all the way around – especially in the realm of inclusion. It’s not easy to draw us ‘non-poets’ out of our shells away from the safe spaces of paragraphs…but you did it and you did it with gusto and grace!

        Liked by 1 person

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    • I’m a princess, a beggar, an urchin, a chav
      I am homeless, a Lady, an official who has
      Such huge opportunity here with my voice
      But which one shall I use? What way goes my choice?

      I’ll hide behind masks both in writing and words
      You’ll never quite know whether what you have heard
      Is the true me, or falsehood on stage once again
      But hey, does it matter? YOU WERE ENTERTAINED!

      Liked by 1 person

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  32. I’ve heard your voice many, many times but today…oh my God. Twists and turns is correct….sweet, soothing, strong, beguiling, playful, tender….so, so many words come to mind. I’ve not heard tons of spoken word but almost every time I have it has moved me. Like today. I am in awe of your talent. You should do this a little more often.

    Aside from that, I haven’t heard your voice in over a week! And now I have. And it was wonderful.

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    • *quiet glee* Well THAT was quite the comment, my DA! I’m so glad you liked this, and that you found it a bit of a ride as I talked you through the different [insert technical name for ‘parts of a poem’ here]. It was such fun to write and I modelled it a bit on the pieces I’ve written before, designed to make people feel. It seems that it worked and I guess I should have KNOWN that spoken word would be more effective, because think…when we all started talking to one another FOR REAL, it was like the friendships suddenly became 3D – they jumped off the page and became tangible, living things, and SO much more wonderful for that!

      I will try to do it more often. It seems there is a keenness for that to happen, and really, how WONDERFUL to have such encouraging feedback. It would be churlish not to respond with good grace.

      And aside from that I STILL MISS YOU SO MUCH! When are you coming back? I’m glad it was good to hear from me, even if in such a round-about way.

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  36. You have a lovely, soothing voice, very easy on the ears. I liked the way you played with tone and pace to create the feelings you wanted to stir. It can be viewed as manipulative but then, so too, can any sort of acting. Which is how I view spoken word for general consumption. Speaking your words to the public in this way is nerve-wracking initially but positive feedback makes all the difference. What can make it so very special is that your listeners get to hear how you interpret your own poetry/words, the intention behind the writing. I always enjoy listening to accents – except my own ! – makes me cringe.
    I’d say, from listening to you, and from all the positive feedback you have received that you have found a new means of communicating to the world at large that lets you stroke minds with sound as well as words. And that is why we write. To touch. You touched beautifully.x

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  37. Pingback: I Yearn for Music | Lisa A. Kramer: Woman Wielding Words

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