I type live poems on demand!

Introducing one of my art forms, performance + visual art + poetry. I go to events like music or art shows, and I set up a typewriter. People can order poems from me. I type them up right there, roll them into a scroll, and sell them to the person for a few bucks. I want to think of a way to do this on Steemit, maybe on one of the radio shows?

I have typed anywhere from 2 - 6 hours STRAIGHT at events.

This picture is of one of the poems. I don't edit them, I don't write them anywhere beforehand. Sometimes they are great and I am happy with them, and sometimes they are kind of duds! That's why I never sell them for too much, so no one feels ripped off, and so I don't have as much pressure on me. That keeps the process itself absolutely fun for me, no matter what. At events, people can roam around and socialize while they wait, so I also tend to take the time I need. Usually each poem can take 5 - 15 minutes to create.

My last event was just before Christmas. I held the scrolls together with bits of paper from zine-making. I used a bowl from my kitchen as a serving dish ! :) I put on headphones when I type to make it obvious that I am concentrating but people think I am a superhuman and that chatting with me is not at allllll complicated. They are WRONG. So sometimes I get an attitude and put signs everywhere as I go along, but I always with love:

Here's my typewriters! And my amazingly sweet dog. I actually own 4 typewriters. The other two are manual and I will show them off sometime too! These ones I got at Goodwill for $10 each! So me and the dog were pretty stoked.

Inspiration from others...

I always draw inspiration from what that person gives to me, but not always in a super literal fashion. This performance activity is very right-brained and intuitive.. I am performing live like a musician. So in order to open my mind to ideas, I have to be very accepting of what my creative portal sends me!

...and true to myself

Which is why I love doing it. This activity has taught me to stay true to myself in amazing ways. I get to write what I want. Every time. No exceptions. And that is very freeing.

Example Prompts

I always make a sign-up sheet. People write their name, a subject, and any other prompt like if they want me to write it "to" someone.

In this list below you can see some orders. I always take photos of my poems after I type them. So that is how I keep a copy of my poem. However...a sad sad sad SAD thing happened last year. These poems on this list were lost to technology forever. My iphone crashed. I posted this image on Facebook to try and get people to help me find them, but alas. Thes poems did not come back to me :(. Now I came up with a new brilliant idea which is actually very old-school: Carbon paper! DUH!

Keep Swimming!

I was sad to have lost so many, because I want to make a book of all these one day. At first I felt like I should just give up! But of course I haven't. I will do these again. It's just too fun.

Thanks for reading! If you liked what you saw you can check out more of my poetry on my blog! And if anyone has ideas for how I can offer this service of live typing on Steemit, lemme know! :)

xo

dflo