Samarra Redacted In Granada, spoken word version

Damn, John, this was spectacular as a spoken piece. A brilliant tirade.

Thank you so much, Faith. I plan on doing audio recordings of many of my poems that I´ve posted to Gather.....at least the ones that seem ideal for performance reading.

John, your deep voice adds resonance to the words; the reading is brilliant. I am such a visual learner that I usually do not do well on 'aural only' learning without print cues but I followed this without distraction - absolutely superb.

o my god, it's a poem called "the scream"! i hear i hear o my god i hear a deep swallowed horror... a "hhhhaaawwwww" that never stops haunting, underscoring and defining those things called words used to build this poem, to proselytize and propagandize, to pillage, rape, and kill. it's in the alliteration, and the infinite roaring heats and melds and makes me cry out those celebrated words from APOCALYPSE NOW, "the horror... the horror..." it's always there, eternal in its awfulness, in every war and every memory of war. it's in ptsd. it's unending. it's beyond the endurable.

thank you for taking the time to do this. you were right about the spoken. you have rebirthed your poem. xoxox ~laura

John....this reading is powerfully delivered, the deep tones build with your
final paces and your voice animates the horrors as they swell inside. The final
collapse finally lets me exhale and begin this "click" to let you know that
I am not at peace with this film , with this war, or with power plays that are sensationalized to "try on" the quieter, the weaker, the uninformed, the dying
within silver shadows of photographic pontification. It is important that we see and hear others and ourselves through authentic voice when the drama painfully and fatally overextends all sane premise and process '"live" in the streets' and alleyways' "present" and in no way hides or refuses self-account......that the message is not guised in smoky characterizations when the non-fiction flames should burn
so hot, that real sweat flows with the tears at the viewing. You read this beautifully and I am sure that the poem will be resonating inside many and listened to many, many times. I love your voice's range of control and emotive release that you wield
so richly.

I don't know what to write now. I am speechless, all mute. That was such a serious issue , still prevailing all over the world. Wahtever you said was a naked truth. I was about to take my dinner but seems , I will relax for some time. This is still haunting.

Thanks for this audio, It should reached to that social class who is unaware of the pain of this dark truth.I felt it and can't write more.


Impressive audio.

Wow, very powerful. Your voice greatly enhanced the poem and its intensity.

"Oh but for the coffins. The missing coffins."

Very powerful...quite timely...and your voice John...just perfect. Very hard-hitting!

Profound.

Rich.

Nice work!

First, you voice enhanced the power!! Now when I am reading your work, I'll hear you voice.

Haunting, rich and absolutely brilliant!!!

John, if you could publish this to Wednesday Writing Essentials, I will make it a NOTABLE and include it in the ULPDATE.

writing

John, thank you. I am making this a NOTABLE and will include it in the UPDATE later today in Wednesday Writing Essentials.

A remarkable reading. I do hope you will do more of these performances of your poetry - the BEST way to experience poetry, in my humble opinion.

John, Thank you, too, for publishing to the Triple Name Club.

This is beyond stunning, John. The written poem left it to us, where to stress and stop. Your own spoken version heightens YOUR reaction and thus makes the poem even more real, raw and difficult to put away from our mind.

John, in this spoken poem, read in a street where earlier prisoners carried their sufferings, you talk about the longed for click that will obliterate the pain. Oh what a click that would be.

How I despise those people that with millenia of civilisation at heir disposal still think of killing but especially maiming to make their points.

You touch upon a great issue in my own life. What what what do I do about all this?

Your voice, almost dark with a kind of despair, was most appropriate for the sombreness of the theme. Bravo.

Great reading John, giving emphasis and consideration to pace and pitch, necessary components to help the words flow into images. Here you can hear the refrain of the street name trisecting the poem, hear the drudge and utter breathless narrator as he anguishly tries to make it through the telling. You nailed it John! Bravo!

Haunting and filled with your perception and every nuance of your laser-eyed mind present in the sound of your voice. The movie sounds like a good one - as focused on its target as any missile, I would guess. I will check it out, too, if I can - but if not, I have your condensation of it dripping like milk from the end of a spoon.

John...this was incredibly stirring. Your voice reading this poem of such vivid, powerful imagery is something I will not soon forget.

Interesting how your voice shifts as it moves through this introspective poem. You begin in a rather surprisingly slow, monotone voice. Then as your stream of consciousness reflects upon those notions that stir you emotionally, your voice progresses in emotional intensity, culminating with apparent anger and disgust. The slight emphasis you placed on certain words, such as "redacted", and "too disturbing" was very effective and telling, as it speaks directly to your overall reaction to the film you had just seen.

First I saw you reading it on stage...then it disolved into film/video/ with you on camera walking the actual route and speaking the lines, entering your office and ending with your sitting down in the swivel chair in front of the computer.
Now that would be the next powerful artistic collaboration.

An extremely powerful reading. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest and the horror of these actions will always be remembered. Thank you, John.