Okay, memorized all the…

Okay, memorized all the chunks. Now to see if I can actually string them together. I really have got to get into the gym today -- totally bailed on working out last night, but I figure I can print out a copy for reference and then practice reciting it as I walk to the gym, and walk home -- and heck, recite it under my breath as I lift weights and run on the treadmill. :-)

You know -- this felt impossibly difficult when I started. The first stanza, I felt like an idiot just repeating the words out loud, over and over -- and I got really frustrated every time I forgot something. That lasted through most of last night, and I swear the only thing that kept me going was experience -- was knowing that I've been through this sort of thing before, with other things I've tried to learn, and knowing that it gets better, that eventually it does work. I kept coming back to Jabberwocky as a touchstone -- if I could memorize that two decades ago, there was no reason why I couldn't memorize seven pages of poetry now. And, of course, it got easier. The last two pages came pretty quickly, and I have some hope that I might actually learn this well enough to perform it tonight and not make a fool of myself.

Of course, if I'd started a week ago, that would've been better. Another lesson of experience that I apparently haven't learned so well. :-)

1 thought on “Okay, memorized all the…”

  1. When I was a kid, memorizing poetry for school was one of my favorite things. I memorized the longest Shel Silverstein poems that I could find. Once, I memorized all of Sarah Synthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out and illustrated it on a long roll of taped together paper which I unrolled as I recited it using the help of another kid to hold one end. I remember mildly botching that one from trying to deal with both remembering the poem and unrolling the paper.

    It’s a provocative piece, your poem. You’ll make an impact — a positive one, that reflects well on you — regardless of whether or not you need to look at a piece of paper or if you stammer. In fact, I suspect a bit of stammering would actually ratchet up the tension of some of the more intimate parts. You’ll knock their socks off, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you get an offer of further degarmententing as well. 😉

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