I Will Show You Fear in a Handful of Dust

Into Dust
Originally uploaded by TjF Photography

Kristin Gorski has a great post on Billy Collins and his use of animations to accompany personal poetry readings. When an author does a "reading" it can generate a lot of interest — we seek a definitive or authentic interpretation of a text, so we seek out its creator — but often times (I find) that an author’s reading or interpretation will leave me cold.
For example, when I first heard a recording of TS Eliot reading The Waste Land I was astounded. I could not believe how badly it was done — how he rushed at his delivery, how he held off at some points and where he obliterated the rich yet desolate language in a single breath. But despite this … and many years later … I can still hear those words in my head. Is this to do with the extra layering of authenticity over the top of meaning? Was it just my teenage disappointment? (Thanks to Sharon for prompting my memory on this.) If you are interested, you can take a listen to the man himself here.

I have heard others perform TS Eliot’s poetry — and do so in a more compelling manner … and sometimes a writer will hold too tightly to their work, will try to limit the interpretation or contain the meaning. The same can be said of IDEAS. Releasing our ideas, our words and our thoughts into the world can be terrifying … but the only thing that really can hold them back is our own fear.