poem || Lawrence Upton

Poem for poet voice(s) and dancer – your existence is extremely unlikely

             

[Performance. Much is left to the performers. It is scored for two speakers but if necessary they may be combined as one voice.]

Voice 1: Your existence is extremely unlikely.

The dancer makes a disjunctive series of wild hand gestures. Their facial expression does not match the gestures. Gestures and expressions do not exchange at the same moment.

Voice 1: Behaviour is hard to witness objectively and harder still to interpret.

Something of a mad dance.

Voice 2: If it's cancer; and if it gets worse, then I shall die.

Dancer, standing straight upright, takes a step or two forward, and then dives over an imaginary line at the height of their belly; and, reaching the ground, rolls and ascends until they are standing straight again. Then they take a step or two backwards.

Voice 1: It's a new magician's trick.

Dancer flaps their arms as if hoping to fly, rising on their toes, wobbling, perhaps staggering forward.

Voice 2: Everyone experienced the placebo effect.

Voice 1: Very few animals have been reported to throw things at one another.

Dancer picks up invisible objects and throws them at invisible moving targets.

Voice 2: In the near future, you may have to share the road with a robot.

'Robot' dance.

Voice 1: Feel limited.

Dancer seemingly has no room for movement; but still they dance somewhat.

Voice 2: Human skill has always been part of a process.

Animated dancer, lightly touching the surface of the performance area as if, perhaps, water and they a temporarily alighting insect, legs spread at an acute angle so as not to sink.

Voice 1: There might be merits to keeping things simple.

Dancer walks about with a minimal show of visible effort. Et cetera.