performance poetry
Performance Poetry is poetry out loud; poems brought from the page to the stage.
Static in the Skin. Winner in Static Challenge. Top Story - July 2026.
They glitched us and took away the behaviour, replacing it with colour distortion that frames us against the odds. This poem moves through static, misrecognition, and the noise that rises when identity beats behaviour.
By Caitlin Charlton3 months ago in Poets
Soundlessness
The sound of Two eyes blinking As I ruminate Silence deafens me Redefining the meaning of This deceptively Non-Binary concept Every roaring inhale Every gale force exhale Leaves me bedraggled Blown out by the Fractions of decibels Searching for the myth Of soundlessness My blood rushes Through vessels Like an ocean Invading a subway tube Drowning out my Thoughts and former mood As I take Thunderous steps Across a forest of Screaming Fibrous bristling nails Digging into Skin and bone A metallic trilling Ramps up At a moment’s Notice The flaming touch of Sonic doom Emanating from Inside my racing Mind Adjusting Always louder Then, the last truth You uttered Endeavoring to suss out The formation of Text on your lips As I cringe and Flinch at the Siren reaching a Fever pitch Watering eyes Pained grimace Static blinds snow-bound eyes Racing existence to The garbling finish
By K.B. Silver 3 months ago in Poets
The Smell of Burst Balloons
I don't recall how old I was Maybe that's a lie A clever line I just say To sound accidental anecdotal nostalgic notation - because - I feel well...I feel so damn old - We all do that, don't we? it can't just be me - But I recall that jolt that rush The surge of electricity as As my hands grip the rubber Full of breathy promise, And I rub the enlarged sphere Against my hair - Closing my eyes with pleasure, anticipating As the rubber balloon demands And then after just seconds It happens, gravity defeated - But is it really, well no, but to me A small nipper, knee high to a... ... You know - some kind of miracle, of science, unseen powers and laws dictating our movements and life - When I was young the need to do it always gripped at me Or, if I'm honest, when my height shot up I still felt that urge, but nothing stays The same can't stay the same - I stand on any day no particular day A Tuesday evening. A Thursday after dawn. Most likely a Saturday... - A Saturday after our wedding anniversary It was twenty-two years to the day Since those words you say when asked - But in truth again - I don't remember the day I remember the smell - Of burst balloons Of the promise balloons offer to rekindle something specific From my past And look at those still inflated ... Waiting And take the rubber and rub it Against my skin my hair or at least - At least what's left of it as I chase That buzz that lightning bolt charge - But as I desperately Rub the balloon against my old head It's never Ever quite the same - Like the first time you hear that song You know the one We all have one Lyrics and melodies Echo echo echo ... In the silence We find ourselves in - In our heads When we need it But it never sounds the same - Still magical, still transformative But without that original fire - While everyone goes about their lives - I'm just stood there, static - Static - noun definition Not moving, unchanged - Static
By Paul Stewart3 months ago in Poets
