DANGER: ALLISTIC POETS EMPHASIZE MEMORIZATION AS THE ONLY WAY TO PERFORM
by Lucas Scheelk
I envy those capable of memorization
I envy the masters unrolling words off their tongues
Words fly away from me if I cannot see them on the page
They don’t fly like Icarus racing towards self-destruction
My words fly like Captain Martin Crieff landing a plane on one engine,
Desperate to keep control in the face of DANGER
[People = DANGER, overbearing light = DANGER, audience clapping = DANGER, audience
snapping their fingers = DANGER, bass music = DANGER, fear of my body flying away with
my words = DANGER]
I envy those without involuntary pause
I envy the masters unrolling words off their tongues
My written words are more solid than my verbal speech,
Which, in comparison, slows, slurs, pauses, stutters, confuses,
Endorses pity, races, and creates a disconnection with the audience
Words fly away from me if I cannot see them on the page
I must always see the words, from start to finish, to
Have visual confirmation that my words won’t fly away
And be replaced with new words, strange words,
Words that could be mistaken for someone else’s,
Words that could be mistaken for an Allistic poet’s
I envy those who socialize without a script
I envy the masters unrolling words off their tongues
Words fly away from me if I cannot see them on the page
And it took me months to auditorily process Cabin Pressure
And it took me months to remember plotlines from Cabin Pressure
And it took me months to echolalate Cabin Pressure
And it took me months to script Cabin Pressure
My reading, grounding, my words from the page is like
My scripting, socializing, with you using Cabin Pressure
Both take preparation and DANGER, and it
Doesn’t make me any less of a performer
Barking Sycamores 