On Wednesday we continued our poetry recitations. I have not found one of these days to be boring. Every presentation has been great, and I feel that watching our classmates perform up front has brought us closer together. I thought James’ performance was awesome. The poem, In-grish, sounded at first like a lot of babble and nonsense. Indeed, some of it was, but it turned out to have more depth than I expected. It was full of jokes and James’ enthusiasm, facial expressions, hand gestures, and rhythm enhanced the experience. The whole poem was written in a sarcastic tone relating to the author’s trouble of never learning his native language, Chinese. The sarcasm and witty humor conveyed that he is not remorseful for only speaking English. However, as stated in the poem, his parents were remorseful.

Rob’s reading of The Weary Blues was another interesting performance. The poem had multiple layers of poetry within itself. The author was listening to a musician sing the blues on the street. The poem felt a little dry the first time it was read, but once Professor Kahan laid down a bluesy melody on the piano, it felt full of life and soul. The music helped Rob and the rest of the class find the rhythm in the words themselves.

Penina’s poem and performance both blew me away. She was given a poem that was written about New York in a very harsh, malevolent tone. The author was very frustrated with New York’s everlasting workforce, which persists through every hour of the night. This leaves no time for peace and quiet, and the author wanted to sleep. Penina definitely practiced the poem beforehand because she read it with an amazing flow and articulation of all the right words and syllables. The accents she used on the violent words included in the poem perfectly conveyed the author’s passionate dislike for NYC’s restlessness.