A Slight Farewell to Poetry
06/10/23 14:44 Filed in: readmespeakme
Several weeks ago it was announced that the weekly ReadMeSpeakMe event was going to take a break, which may or may not be permanent. This was run on Twitter whereby a poem written by someone within the ReadMeSpeakMe community would be posted up every Sunday morning and people invited to read it out loud and record in which ever format they preferred. Some used Soundcloud or similar, or on the shorter poems would record directly to Twitter—generally I'd record using iMovie and post on YouTube.
The final poem (at least for now) was 'I Wouldn't Say I Was A Poet' by Sean Logue (@SeanCLogue on Twitter). I guess it wasn't a coincidence too that the week's event was a nice round and large number: 200. It's a good innings for any one person to arrange each week. One person undertaking to organise and post any weekly challenge must be thanked for their time and effort in doing it. Even if you may think 'it can't take much time' etc then ask yourself why aren't you are doing it? I remember what it was like when I was involved in CAMRA and people would ask why wouldn't we do such and thing. Nearly everyone involved had jobs and families and other things in their lives as well as doing whatever their role in CAMRA was at the time. People not involved in the organisation expected volunteers to volunteer again and again for more and more; or else be seen as inadequate, but ask them to get involved and the answer was always no. I used to put up a weekly challenge on Twitter myself called the 'Seedling Challenge' (tied in with the weekly VSS365 prompts). It was sometimes enjoyable but often thankless and in the end I had to let it peacefully pass away as few people really got involved and it got to the point I felt it was a waste of my time—even if it wasn't that much each week. I could use the time to do something else for myself; perhaps have another coffee, or strum the geetar a little. I don't regret it going. It may have been a small rod for my own back, but it was a constraint I really didn't need to carry on with.
And so ReadMeSpeakMe, like the Seedling Challenge, has come to an end too. Perhaps it'll be back someday, perhaps not. But it was enjoyable while it lasted.
Perhaps I'll get on a write and read my own poetry again. Or play some more geetar: with or without involving YouTube.
For the 200th poem I donned a celebratory hat, and even though it may have turned out to be a sad occasion in retrospect I do not think a black hat would have been more appropriate. Here was my final reading: 'I Wouldn't Say I Was A Poet'
I must take this opportunity to thank @ReadMeSpeakMe herself for the 200 times she's put it out there for us and to the people involved in it through the time I've been involved with it. Peace be with you all. Thank you all and good night.
The final poem (at least for now) was 'I Wouldn't Say I Was A Poet' by Sean Logue (@SeanCLogue on Twitter). I guess it wasn't a coincidence too that the week's event was a nice round and large number: 200. It's a good innings for any one person to arrange each week. One person undertaking to organise and post any weekly challenge must be thanked for their time and effort in doing it. Even if you may think 'it can't take much time' etc then ask yourself why aren't you are doing it? I remember what it was like when I was involved in CAMRA and people would ask why wouldn't we do such and thing. Nearly everyone involved had jobs and families and other things in their lives as well as doing whatever their role in CAMRA was at the time. People not involved in the organisation expected volunteers to volunteer again and again for more and more; or else be seen as inadequate, but ask them to get involved and the answer was always no. I used to put up a weekly challenge on Twitter myself called the 'Seedling Challenge' (tied in with the weekly VSS365 prompts). It was sometimes enjoyable but often thankless and in the end I had to let it peacefully pass away as few people really got involved and it got to the point I felt it was a waste of my time—even if it wasn't that much each week. I could use the time to do something else for myself; perhaps have another coffee, or strum the geetar a little. I don't regret it going. It may have been a small rod for my own back, but it was a constraint I really didn't need to carry on with.
And so ReadMeSpeakMe, like the Seedling Challenge, has come to an end too. Perhaps it'll be back someday, perhaps not. But it was enjoyable while it lasted.
Perhaps I'll get on a write and read my own poetry again. Or play some more geetar: with or without involving YouTube.
For the 200th poem I donned a celebratory hat, and even though it may have turned out to be a sad occasion in retrospect I do not think a black hat would have been more appropriate. Here was my final reading: 'I Wouldn't Say I Was A Poet'
I must take this opportunity to thank @ReadMeSpeakMe herself for the 200 times she's put it out there for us and to the people involved in it through the time I've been involved with it. Peace be with you all. Thank you all and good night.
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