Video poems are a great way to present your work. For the "best of the web" and a wide range of the work that's being done today, see the website http://movingpoems.com/
spoken word:
"Was It I?" http://vimeo.com/30031642
(poem from Cloud Birds)
spoken word/ sequence of poems
"Immersion" http://vimeo.com/19985791
(excerpt from Echo and Lightning)
Written word:
"Black Iris" : http://vimeo.com/29698643
The abstract visual images and sound are by Kathy McTavish.
Video poems are similar to music videos -- they are very engaging. Some are animations, some are documentary, some are an intriguing amalgamation of visual images, photography, drawing, and what-have-you. Poetry is able to come off the page and into a visually interesting and musical environment that can enhance the work.
The ones that work the least well, it seems, are the ones whose images provide a literal illustration of the words of the poem. As a result, it causes the evocative quality of both the poem and the film to dissipate. The film should work as a narrative or imagistic flow on its own; the poem can be spoken, written on the film frames, or occur like text on a foreign film. I think the best video poems form interesting interstices and gaps between poem and film that allow the reader to enter into the making of meaning.
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