Shake the Jabberwocky

Having recently experienced poetry in a new light than I had previously done, I have enjoyed listening and experiencing poetry in its different forms whether that be through simply reading or with the added experience of a poetry performance or adaptation in the sense of another work of art.

The first rendition of poetry that struck me was the Muppet's rendition of "Jabberwocky"  by Lewis Carroll. I have heard this piece in several forms before and even performed it myself in song. Yet the rendition by the muppets harmlessly mocked the absurdity of the poem itself. The characters, complete with costuming and vocal inflection, added a setting for the Jabberwocky that I had not necessarily identified. Even the usage of twin characters to tell the story in the beginning added an understanding of absurdity to the piece. The Muppets made the poem humorous instead of serious, as the author may have originally intended. The Muppets, I believe proved a point of the monotonousness of goth literature (or dark romanticism as it is often referred) that often befalls our culture of the knight in shining armor saving the day.

The second rendition that was enlightening to me was the poem "Shake the Dust" by Anis Mojgani. There is certain poetry that begs to be performed and this is one of those pieces. This piece could not be performed by anyone but Anis because he shared how he wants to be remembered. Anis barely breathes as he rambles off the list of individuals who live in this fallen world. Yet he encourages them to shake the dust. And finally as Anis slows down and takes a breath is the moment when he calls for change. The punctuation is impactful.