Foundations of Verbal Communication Oral Performance Project

Our first oral performance project of this semester has been composing, memorizing, and reciting "Five/Fours", a poetic form devised by Ursula K. LeGuin and illustrated in her novel Always Coming Home.

Thoughts

Thinking of nothing.
Nothing at all.
Knowing there's something.
Preparing to fall.

-- Amanda Kelley

Untitled

Gentle sway of heat
Kissing rosy cheeks
August's halo of
Light and blue above

-- Mairin-Taj Caya

[Notice the enjambment of the last two lines in Caya's piece. Kelley's is fully end-stopped; indeed, Kelley has emphasized the end-stops with periods.]

Procrastination

I did not do this
Until this morning
I am a slacker
Procrastination

-- Josh Yinger

[I particularly appreciate the echo of the stressed syllable of "slacker" in the stressed syllables of "procrastination". I also appreciate the use of a single word for an entire line.]

Anxiety

Constant sleepless nights
Killing me slowly
What if I could stop?
What would life be like?

-- Sara Warfel

Design

Stitches here and there
Keep it together
Pull up, button, zip
It's a perfect fit

-- Megan Scallion

Gone

I'm not here or there
I stay in the dark
No mind has control
No control of my mind

-- Sarah Solak

[As discussed in class, this is not quite a five/four as the last line has six syllables. A few alterations could be suggested; I would not change the phrases "no mind" / "no control", though, because the juxtaposition is one of the great strengths of the poem. Perhaps the reversal could be emphasized by replacing "of my" by "has"?]

Attack of the Bean Burrito

We sit in silence
No one is speaking
No pins are dropping
Then Emily farts

-- Kaitlin Sanders

[But perhaps it wasn't the burrito -- perhaps it was:]

Haggis

Have you heard of it?
Cabbage, potatoes
Whiskey and mutton
Stuffed in sheep's stomach

-- Emily Atkins

Austin

You're a gift from God
Our little treasure
Sent by your mother
Now ours forever

-- Triscia Felty

Sick

Under the raincloud
Time passes slowly
Can't get out of bed
Another sick day

-- Samantha Emonds

Loss

He offers a hand
To those who need him
Takes them from this world
To live in Heaven

-- Madeline Mowery

Anger

I am so angry.
Do not piss me off.
I'm going to win.
I love you so much!

-- Kim Jackson

At Dawn, Hear the Bells

The night strangles us,
Faces peer through mist.
Stars glimmer through trees.
At dawn, hear the bells.

-- Alyssa Cross