More things...

I've taken a few days' break in order to get ready for what's going to be an intense few weeks: taking Identity Mix-Up up to Edinburgh; coming back and teaching full-time at a new school; and preparing for a new term at university etc. 

Right now, the washing machine needs a final spin and I can pack for my trip tomorrow, all of my identity-related accessories in tow, including an £1.99 automatic pistol (Poundstretcher to the rescue!)

After the preview event last week Monday, it was a good time for some soul-searching; I felt I'd written some great poems for it and had a decent concept, but what do I want people to come away with, once I've finished the poems, cleared the space and hauled myself halfway across town to see some friend's show afterwards? 

(oh, and btw, I need to have words with Angry Sam - he's only gone and booked to perform at exactly the same time I am... what I've seen of his I've really enjoyed though, so if you can't stand six days of Keith Jarrett, go and see Life in Transit!*) 

 

Just as importantly, what do I want to come away with? I think I've found some meaning through the whole process of writing about my personal journey of finding an "identity"; I hope it's all entertaining too (hence the gun and the socks and the dodgy string vest - tell you about that later!) but I also think entertainment should have a point. 

Take Pete the Temp's post here, for instance. Rhythm and lyricism and everything are all good but, like a takeaway meal or an orgasm - the example he used - the side-effects are short-lived. I won't repeat everything he said - and he was talking more about how poets use metaphor and push language - but I'm finding that I have to put more of myself into my poems for me to like them these days. And that means a sizeable proportion of the poetry I wrote for the show doesn't show me in the most flattering light... But that's ok, I think.

...tbc...  

*There's also another half-dozen shows I'm planning to catch... including and not limited to James McKay's Popular Reciter, Sophia Walker's Around the World in Eight Mistakes and I'm Sorry I Haven't Haiku.