poetry out loud #2

The poem I picked for my poetry out loud competition is called The Donkey by G.K. Chesterton. I picked it because it was dramatic, cleverly worded, and only 16 lines. This poem jumped out at me because it’s dramatic and dark but also whimsical and satirical. That “not too seriousness” really jumped out at me. I’ve memorized it and am as confident as I will ever be about performing it.

The poem is about a donkey. That’s the easiest fact to come up with since the poem is called “the donkey” but you can never be sure, poets are tricky. So the donkey that the poem is about is born from a blood red moon, it’s the first donkey to be born. It is a monstrous thing created by the devil himself. It is so evil looking that the people of the villages actually fear and worship it.    

Since the poem is sort of dramatic, I’ll use a lot of voice fluctuation and dramatic voice transitions for the different stanzas. I’m going to try to minimize acting the story out with my hands, which just sounds like a bad idea. I have no idea what to do with my hands, I guess that why we have pockets.