Dueling poetry styles
at BPL show on April 19
by Heather Bremner
(From Benicia Herald, 4/10/2002)
|
When Blake
More and Tony Seymour first met they were two very different people
with polar opposite backgrounds, amazed at the way their poems somehow
met on a common ground. After discussing
their frustration with the isolation and intellectual superiority
of coffee house poetry – where poets read to an audience of
poets – they decided to see if they could take their poetry
out into the mainstream. Last year
the two poets combined their work to create a poetry dialogue play
titled “Godzilla verses Swan bLake” which they will perform
at the Benicia Public Library on April 19th from 7:30 pm
to 9:30 pm. The title
refers to their different styles of delivery and how their poetry
relates in a very unconventional way. “We
want to expand the range that our audiences experience,” said
More. “The extremes we each hit in our poetry counterbalance
each other. So if he says something that might seem sexist or offensive
to a woman, I’ll come back with something that might evoke a
similar outrage in a man. So we neutralize the message, just bring
up ideas and feelings that people talk—or don’t—about.
It sounds like a conversation in which we are addressing each other
because the poems fit together so well. Seymour,
50, the author of “Evolution of a Soul” a 1021 page collection
of poetry, and More, 36, who has written two non-fiction books, two
books of poetry, three plays and numerous short fiction pieces, first
met when they appeared together on “The Alchemy of The Word”
a recording of a CD compilation of San Francisco poets. Immediately
drawn to each other’s work and presentation style, they began
sending each other poems and recordings. When they
realized that their differences in age, lifestyle and attitudes created
a mÈlange of unique thought, they decided to produce a nouveau style
of poetic delivery. Structured as a conversation, “Godzilla
verses Swan bLake” uses similar imagery yet the two poets approach
their subjects from different perspectives.
“I
have what I call a ‘zap rap’ style,” says Seymour.
“It’s a really fired up delivery, while Blake’s
is slower. Blake’s
is like vodka and mine is a mixer.” The show
was first performed last year at Bird & Beckett, a bookstore in
San Francisco. Since they have performed in cafes, nightclubs, theaters,
and libraries around the Bay Area and, most recently, in New Orleans,
LA for a Mardi Gras performance tour. While responses
have varied, Seymour says most of their audiences respond favorably,
some people have even told the duo “you restore our faith in
poetry.” “People
have been turned off from poetry cause tons of poetry is published
but not that much is good, deep poetry,” he says. “Most
of it is people using poetry to show their daily lives, so too often
there’s a lack of alliteration or metaphor.” Seymour
who lives in San Francisco and bases his poetry on the rhythm of sound,
what he calls “intra-sylabilistic rhyming”, is particularly
peeved by the majority of poetry published today, poetry that he believes
seldom delves deeply into an issue. He spent
his younger years in the 1970s hanging out with San Francisco beatniks,
such as poet Bob Kaufman, who helped him get in touch with his deeper
side, something he hopes to pass on to another generation. They were
in their 50s and I was in my 20s and I started to hang out with these
cats,” said Seymour. “Like the Renaissance, I decided
to learn my craft from the older generation who invented it. With
Blake, I’m doing the same.” More left
the city life of San Francisco in 1996 and has since lived on the
Mendocino Coast. While living in San Francisco, she often read at
various venues in North Beach and at cafes and clubs in the Bay Area.
Her original solo performance pieces and ensemble plays have also
appeared on stages in Tokyo and Los Angeles. She teaches poetry through
the California Poets in the Schools program and drama for the Gualala
Arts Center. The Benicia
Public Library is located at 150 E. L Street. For more information
call 707-746-4343. |
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