Delivery of Poetry

     Going over my mentor poet Rudy Francisco and his work has been easier to digest then I initially thought it would. For one, the language in which he writes with in his poetry is not completely outdated and I can actually understand the words that come out of his mouth. But another thing is not having to read the poems by myself as he often does live poetry performances. I can get tired very easily reading so much poetry so being able to just listen to Francisco perform his own work has been very nice. It also helps that he is an outstanding performer. The enthusiasm and passion that he carries with all of his work does a great job of keeping his audience hooked. The firm tone he always keeps speaking in and his constant continuation barely pausing for breaths and audience reaction managed to completely catch my attention and never let it go. The amazing delivery Francisco constantly displays is definitely one of the reasons he is considered one of the better poets of our time. I had only watched a few live poetry performances prior, so the fact that poetry could actually be made somewhat exciting was a surprise. Poetry performances or readings are definitely a help in getting me through a poem and feeling the words that were actually written. When I would read poems to myself I always did it in the same monotone half-asleep voice skimming through it. This obviously lead to a greater disinterest in what I was reading just waiting for the last line to come and be done with it. But maybe attempting to read it in a more emotion-filled voice such as Francisco's could help get rid of this attitude that I constantly carry around. Getting any sort of excitement from poetry is definitely foreign land for me, but Francisco can make it work.