My Pal, Kermit, and His Friends

I don't remember what grade it was, but I do remember the first poem that I had to memorize for class. You see, there was a poetry competition and the winner got to go to New York and recite the poem in front of a big audience. I, having been cursed with stage fright, terrified myself with thoughts of reciting a poem in front of so many people. It was hard enough to do it in front of a class filled with my friends. At any rate, I chose the shortest poem from the list without looking at what it said or how it sounded. Lucky for me, that poem was Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky." Talk about a headache! It took me hours to memorize that little poem and then when I got up in front of the class I could barely spit out the syllables. Needless to say, I did not get to go to New York. Since then I have always kind of had a special spot reserved for that tongue-twisting, opium trip inspired poem. I happened to stumble upon the Muppet's rendition of it and laughed the whole way through.

 

Listening to poetry is always a new and different experience. I love hearing a recited poem for the first time. I remember one time in another English class where we watched The Simpsons' version of "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe recited by Homer Simpson and James Earl Jones. It was the first time that I had seen poetry as relatable and understandable. Since then, I have always tried to read poetry out loud as I feel like that is its natural habitat. The experience is always intensified and the poem takes on a new personality. For me, that is the way poetry should be.