Following the various discussions on spelling, grammar and formatting, I thought it might be worth putting together some thoughts on performance poetry and what it is on the internet.

Different forms of the arts obviously overlap with each other. They are enriched by that and I would not want it to be otherwise. Purists in particular art forms often want to distinguish their own medium quite sharply. In the case of the visual arts, it is not uncommon for artists to refuse even to title their paintings, sculptures, etc. because they believe that the work should be appreciated and 'understood' entirely visually rather than by any description. That is for them of course, but I cannot help feeling that description and critical analysis, however wrong it may be, can only help in broadening awareness of all art and the greater awareness there is of the existence of something, the greater will be the possibility of it being valued and enjoyed.

So! I think that language has some role to play in the visual arts even though it is not used in the art work itself. As poets, we are practitioners of a linguistic art. Visual elements in the presentation of the written word is certainly important. Line and verse breaks assist in identifying the rhythm of the work and, as such, they are extensions of punctuation. Bolding, underlines, capitalisation, etc. can be used to convey stress and emphasis to the reader. Beyond that, creative use of spaces and variations of layout may be used to include a visual aesthetic overlaying the language content of the work.

Historically, poetry has been a branch of literature in which it is recognised that reading out loud is an important aspect of appreciation of the work, but the written form has continued to be the primary medium and, with that, emphasis on layout.

In my view, performance poetry, as it has developed since the 1960's ,is much more a niche part of acting than it is a sub branch of poetry literature. As with all other arts, there is a spectrum with rappers and slammers, who may never commit their words to paper, at one end, to more traditional poets who like to perform their own work at the other.

Of course we are never going to be able to see and hear all performance poets in live action. The beauty of the internet is that we can now hear audio clips and see video on websites. This gives us the chance of appreciating the work of performance artists whose work does not come across well in writing, or they choose not to write it down. Unfortunately, providing many web functions can be technically very difficult and expensive. For a website, like WoL, that has as its main purpose the promotion of performance poetry, it is probably a priority to give emphasis to those aspects of the site that provide the best possible expression to performance poetry.

It would be lovely of course to have a site that can do everything with the ultimate degree of sophistication, but that is not practicable and in those circumstances the presentation of performance should probably take precedence over advanced text formatting. There are thousands of poetry sites and many of them have more literature focussed content.

I should make it clear that I play no part at all in the administration of WoL and I have no idea what decisions they make on site development or its financing.

I agree with Malcolm on everything but one, Im not sure I understood fully and Im on drugs so please bear with me...LOL that sounds silly. But what I dont get is why some poets feel threatened by being asked to explain their art.To me its not an insult, to be asked to explain a poem/words used. To me it does not make the poem less in any way if you need to explain a little. If anything it opens up and makes for conversation on the subject, gets your message/feelings out to more people.As a poet what I may think is perfectly clear, may infact not be to all.If asked to clarify what is meant, it is an oppurtunity to engage in mind opening communication...ok Ill get stop now Im sure I could go on forever.

I always use language in poetry. I tried string but it didn't tie up properly.

I tried to use a stapler to get the words all to work together as a team...they ran away!

Strung Up

String is my staple diet
I by the metre buy it.
Devouring all I come across
String is my staple diet.

String is my staple diet
It is structureless and pliant
Postmodern points are parceled tight
In string my staple diet.

String is my staple diet
You really all should try it.
Each thought and thing expressed within
Fine string my staple diet.

String is my staple diet
Well strung words of voice unquiet
Rhymers race a giddy chase.
String is my staple diet.