Voice
On my way home from the grocery story last night, I listened to a woman reading her poetry. (Yes, it was public radio.) The poetry was lovely, but I could only listen for a little bit because the woman was reading in Poetry Voice.
Do you know what I mean? Poetry Voice is serious, measured, cultured with very little inflection or change in tempo. Poetry Voice, for me, is so unnatural sounding that I have a difficult time listening to what is being said.
Perhaps poets use Poetry Voice because poetry is Serious Literature. But it makes poetry hard to listen to. Spoken poetry without Poetry Voice is wonderful.
