Sympathetic Sybil is Write Out Loud's own Agony Aunt...

Dear Sympathetic Sybil,

I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find words that do justice to the thoughts I’m having and therefore find the poetry I am producing is rubbish and I have to tear poems up and throw them away. Ironically, this action seems to be more satisfying to me and seems to ‘say’ something more concrete than any words can, at least for me. Does this count as performance poetry, or am I going too far?

So, does one have to use words to produce poetry?

Yours

Boom, Boom Shebang O’Fari

Dear Reader or may I call you Boom,

As my old mucker Edith [Sitwell :Ed] famously said when experimenting with “sound abstract poems”: "They are virtuoso exercises in technique of extreme difficulty, in the same sense as that in which certain studies by Liszt are studies in transcendental technique in music."

Whoop! Boing boing….Futurists and da-da-da-dist created the first sound poetry, often considered barmy by the establishment - oink. Onomatopoeias, whilst not as pure as my attempt at sonic poetry, quack has also an honourable, if limited, addition. Whilst the b.b.b.b.beats themselves be-bopped bedevilishly to Jazzzzzzzzz so cooool it could de-decalate one, two...

I particularararly like the idea of simultaneous poetry, invented by Tristran-bonkers-Tzara, (in) which a poem is read in different languages, ‘bonjour Megan’ with different rhythms, tonalities Numero neuf number nine , and by different per-idiots-sons at the same time. jkweahgk

Some of the moooore modern chaps, ha hap, quite sometimes oftenly use elements of sound eek in spoken words, per-chips in quite inappro-argh-priate and unexpected BANG ways though it does bring a certain joy-quack to their work especially braaabarph after they have downed several Guiness and G&Ts.

Whi-k-lst Glennon has used a “tchk tchk” drum sound in his poetry and even attemptedddddd de dedeee a particularly successful word symphony-da-dah-daaahh, knee solvent.

Matt Dalby attempts new soundscapes by making & reccccorddiing noises using whatever is to hand and over dubbing them until the piece is complete. One is never sure how he makes the decision to stop, but thankfully he does de dum dum

One of Dalby’s trixity-tricks is to record the noise of a chair (screeeeccchhh) as he scrapes it across the floor. For myself, me I I I I I I I’ve always found throwing a chair or two at the audience-ce-ce a much more daring act revolting  and always sure to provoke an interesting reaction. Ambulance on standby.

So I now eschew ew ew ewe u words and hope to take the embryonic ideas inherent (tentedly) in the apotheosic presentations to an even greater garlic... Klqr3knn Tbsm,njkm BmknkNNNlnjkmbOrsg jkavnj7kbvkja...(edited down from over a million such jottings: ED)

[ED: We’re glad to report that Sybil is currently undergoing speech and psycho-therapy and we hope to have her back to her usual, highly-regarded-member-of-staff self, by next month.]