Friday, October 18, 2013

My funny voice (31-HP Day 19)

[Please note that after twelve years of speech therapy, I still have problems pronouncing certain words correctly.]

Speak funny
You say I do
Mocking how I talk

Am I retarded?
Brain damaged?
Unworthy of being heard?

My voice an excuse
And ready target
For your abuse

Shame should make
Me quiet as a mouse
Sorry to disappoint

I roar and thunder
An opinionated troll
With a standing soapbox

Ignore my voice
I use my pen
Full of poison ink

My voice enables
I am the jester
And the howling lunatic

I stand in
The center of attention
Hogging the spotlight

Yes, I speak funny
So did my grandparents
Their mouths full of Yiddish

[And for those of my readers, who have never heard my speaking voice, I present the following video.]


3 comments:

Raka said...

What an interesting poem, I had fun reading it.
Btw I loved your voice, thanks for the video attached!

Jenn Carson said...

Great poem! ... but...
1) Having only ever been a "reader" and not until just now a "listener/viewer," I would never have known you had any speech trouble at all. It simply never occurred to me.
2) I still don't. I watched the video. Your voice seems fine. But I do know that everyone's voice sounds weird to them.

I sing, and people even clap when I do, but when I hear recordings of myself, it's awful. Every single thing about my voice seems amplified - every imperfection, no matter how slight - I hear all of that, glaring out at me.

You have a nice voice, a bright voice. The kind of voice that makes me want to smile at the sunshine.

Muriel said...

Thanks for this poem. If it is of any help, I keep being teased because I have a strong French accent. People can be mean. Your voice seems fine to me.