My 1st Time on DSound! — "The Night & Its Bewitching Might" / Original Poetry Reading
Technophobe that I am, I didn't imagine I could figure out how to use @DSound, anytime soon, since I was still trying to navigate planet Steemit—2 months in!
But, when a fellow poet that I admire, Daniel Pendrgraft @d-pend, wrote this beautiful, encouraging review of a poem of mine, I decided to take the plunge:
"Simply masterful, my friend. It flowed so naturally. I would love to hear it recited, have you ever considered posting simple readings to @dsound? It's quite easy to use...
But back to your piece: the wordplay was simply stunning. I love all the internal rhymes and the small tweaks (violet, violent) as well as the alliteration. For some reason, the word "candelabra" felt like a pivot point in the piece - its sound stood out to me.
This conjured the mood of a deep dream state: wonderfully abstract and subtly nightmarish, yet glimmering with a brighter sense of mystery. Thank you for this creation! It's one I will continue to study."
So, here you have my maiden voyage on DSound! I hope you enjoy this ode to imagination & dreaming with our eyes wide open. Below, are the words to my poem, if you wish to follow along:
The Night & Its Bewitching Might
the cinematic power in a drop of water
crashing against the stomach of a sink
smashing into iridescent pieces
scattering in resplendent shards
the torrid affair in the crease
of a week-old newspaper,
the tumbling creatures
in crumbling alabaster
unrealized populations materialize
undisguised before imperturbable eyes
creep in and out of a carpet pattern
once more irretrievable in the weave
come somber twilight hour
with its vanquished armies
a procession of angels, subdued
violent silver and violet diffused
a clandestine encounter
between a room and a candelabra
the four walls a shadow box
a profusion of unhinged imaginings
furtive fugitive figures
emboldened emerge
merge and converge
with a dark eloquence
a great whorl of specters
consecrating sacred pacts
enacting blasphemous acts
confidential, conspirational
monsters of darkness
huddled here or there
shoulders and knees
crammed in corners
the night, the night
with all its bewitching might
conduit for reveries
and gently taunting madness.
© Yahia Lababidi
PS - Also, today, another milestone, another small triumph: 300 followers on @Steemit :) Much gratitude, kind folks, for joining me on this exciting, challenging, enriching Journey. I hope I will continue to prove worthy of your warm attention & support!
(Cover image: Salvador Dali dream sequence appears in Alfred Hitchcock's psycho-thriller, 'Spellbound')
► Listen on DSound
► Listen from source (IPFS)
Hey, that was a fast turn around! Very nice, I always prefer to hear a piece in the author's own voice. I feel I can glean more of the intention and feeling behind it. There's a very labyrinthine feel to this poem that I find inspiring.
What mic where you using? I sometimes place a rag on my Blue Snowflake USB mic to prevent pops/ puffs of air (a very rudimentary pop filter!) Other times, I just speak directly over it rather than directly in. I've had to become hyper-aware of it because there are so many airy sounds in the beatboxing I've been recording!
Glad you embarked on your @dsound maiden voyage, cheers!
P.S. We must be in sync, I posted on dsound about five minutes after you did, haha.
Thanks, for giving me that push, my friend :) I heartily agree about the value of voice, especially with poetry. Lending words one's breath certainly makes a poem more intimate. In Egypt, we feel the same way even about cooking, and say that the 'breath' of the cook is what really makes a meal tasty/soulful.
Taking note of all the very helpful technical tips you provide above. I did my reading using my Iphone - will try next time to cover mic and speak over it as you recommend.
Hope the folks at @dsound enjoy this poetry reading, too, and that I get better at is as I get along. (For example, was not sure if the tags I use should be for DSound or Steemit; likewise, confused where to edit, on DSound or Steemit :)
Off to check your post!
Wow! That really hits home, as an avid cook. So interesting.
The way that I do it is design the post totally, on the Steemit "Post" area, and then don't post it but then publish the sound on @dsound. Then I copy the whole post that I designed, and click "edit" on the sound I just published (now on steemit.com) I paste the post I made, and grab this part from the automatically formatted dsound post:
<a href="https://dsound.audio/#/@yourname/your-sound">► Listen on DSound</a><br> <a href="https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/QiwugsdfU9sjJEbskWvzuK981kvM">► Listen from source (IPFS)</a>(That's the part that displays the links to your sound)
I leave a space in my post for it, intentionally. After taking that part, I delete the rest of the auto-formatted post and edit the categories to things that get more clicks (i.e. instead of dsound-poetry, just change to poetry, writing, etc.) I believe the tags will remain the same on dsound and that it's a bit of a seperate entity, but I'm not entirely sure.
Anyway, that probably sounds convoluted, but that's how I do it currently!
Oh, goodness, that does sound tricky, @dpend :o Will have to consult it fairly closely, next time I post on @dsound! Thank you, for taking the time to walk me through it all!
After I wrote you, my Net dropped for around 2 hours and just back, now, so going to try to check out your post, again :)
Another wonderful reading @yahialababidi. I have been using soundcloud so far when doing a reading for steemit. I shall have to look into Dsound for my next poem I think. Your conversation with @d-pend on this post has got me all set knowledge-wise. Thanks for sharing your words and voice :)
Yeah, I'm a soundclouder, too, thus far: https://soundcloud.com/yahia-lababidi :) Mostly, I'd read poems by others I love, to lend them my breath and know them better. But, it's exciting to try something new and to keep it in the Steemit family, so to speak! Good luck with DSound, mate. I'm glad our exchange helped and you enjoyed poetry reading, @raj808 :)
@yahialababidi, dear.
monsters of darkness
huddled here or there
shoulders and knees
crammed in corners
something went through my body.
Amazing work, I'll keep up on checking new ones.
All the best, @keyss.
Wonderful to receive this kind of physical reader response, @keyss, where words reach out & move you!
I hope future works will also keep you company, cheers! Yahia
Wow....amazing poem @yahialababidi
Thanks, for checking it out, @imchandansah! Glad you enjoyed it :) If this does well, I hope to do more in the future...
Yes, you should definitely do it more.
Great poem, I like it :)
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This poem appears in a collection of poetry in the 180 days series a.k.a. Vote Battle being run by poetsunited.