Clouds in the wind
_____ Shapeshift
Lights in the dark
_____ Leave me
Proud in my skin
_____ Weightless
Flight on the spark
_____ Love me
As I am
_____ Halfway man
As I am
_____ Halfway land
Rust on the blade
_____ Red blood
Flows from the wound
_____ Know that
Trust grows from pain
_____ Redwood
Trees know the moon
_____ Only
Halfway man
_____ As I am
Halfway land
_____ As I am
Instructions / Ideas for Variations
1. Simultaneous Voicings
a. Performer One reads left-aligned text, Performer Two reads indented text. Succeeding lines are read simultaneously, in groups of two, so that performers are never speaking alone
b. Performer One reads the first stanza, Performer Two reads the second stanza. Succeeding lines are read simultaneously, in order, so that both stanzas conclude at the same time
2. Alternating Voicings
a. Performer One reads left-aligned text, Performer Two reads indented text. Succeeding lines are read in alternation (aka call-and-response)
3. Tempo
a. Performers may pre-determine or improvise the rate at which words are voiced. This may vary from line to line
4. Pitch
a. Performers may pre-determine or improvise pitched, spoken, or sung voicings. This may vary from line to line
5. Volume
a. Performers may pre-determine or improvise the volume of delivery, from whispered (pianissimo) to shouted (fortissimo). This may vary from line to line
D.W. Baker (he/him) is a submerging poet from St. Petersburg, Florida, where he writes about place, bodies, belonging, and the end of the world. His work appears in Corporeal Lit, Feral Poetry, Green Ink Poetry, Modern Haiku, and elsewhere. He is a poetry reader for Hearth & Coffin. See more of his work at linktr.ee/dwbaker