I Forget

[Bob Pacey]

Wrote this after forgetting my lines in front of 500 people at a race day function.

Have we all been there ??? it's a terrible place.


I Forget

This world can be a frightening place , from pain there's no relief
I watch the news each evening and it can fill your life with grief
Carnage on our highways, the ravages of war
Sometimes I have to wonder mate ,what are they fighting for.

Then there's the terror of just living, like spiders nearly make me S--T
Or a sudden boot of lightning can bring on a frantic fit.
But of all the things in life that happen, though I'm not the one to whine
there is nothing like the fear you see when a bush poets lost his line.

It may not happen very often but its always in your mind
you just stop and stare so blankly, your whole memory's gone blind.
And it can happen to the best of us be you first or second rank
You cruise along in full flight and then your bloody mind goes blank.

I've done this poem a thousand times, I know it page by page
But that's small consolation when your standing centre stage.
The sweat pours from your beaten brow, your eyes begin to roll
Your pray to God to let you please just crawl into a hole.

You look around for inspiration and you wish that you were dead
Does another poet know the words? but they just hang their head.
Now it takes hours to memorise them, you can practice day and night
In the bathroom or the toilet, cause it has to be just right.

They go round and round inside you head, there is no peace at all
You just can't find contentment, till you've memorised it all.
So you shrug and make some old lame joke " I haven't done this for a while"
You fumble through some papers, or stand with a vacant smile.

Sometimes you can recover, skip out a verse or two in time
Or mumble incoherently and hope the words all rhyme.
Or perhaps it's gone forever, taken off in flight
Was it stored inside those brain cells the beer killed off last night.

Perhaps the crowd will never know, the error of your way
But you always do and it steels your nerve, to fight another day.
Despite the trials and tribulations, all the heart ache and the rage
We still take every opportunity to get up on centre stage.

Its just like some dammed addiction, it courses through your blood
And when the crowd bursts out in laughter, the high, it hits you like a flood.
So pity the poor bush poet with that vacant gaze and stare
and think of the all the practice it took just to get up there.

Give them a cheer for trying, recognize the courage in their heart
it took a lot of effort to even make a start
And when the show is over, and you might think this is insane
when someone pulls a mike out mate, we'll fight to do it all again.

Bob Pacey ( C )

[Heather]

Very enjoyable Bob. I saw nearly every poet forget their lines at an event I was at recently. The audience hangs in deathly silence and heart stopping anticipation, mentally willing them to remember. I think it shows a great presence of mind and nerve to remember and continue on. I'd be mortified if it happened to me. I have a bad memory for remembering my own poems which is why I chicken out and read them.

Heather

[Maureen K Clifford]

All poets who have the guts to get up on stage and recite Bob have my admiration...as a suffer from Kraft it is something I am never going to experience. I am with Heather - if I can read it no worries - otherwise just lets not go there

Loved the poem - nothing more to be said really 'cause it says it all...well done.

Cheers

Maureen

[Zondrae]

G'day Bob,

We seek the spotlight and then wonder why we sometimes feel like a bunny. Yes I have seen the 'very best', multi award winning champion (both male and female) get stuck. I have also see the wise old bush poet who has a mate sit in the front row with the words to prompt if and when necessary. I think I missed a couplet from a poem I recited over the weekend. Oh well, I only hope I don't do that at the National. It is a consolation though when you do your own stuff, not many people know the exact words. It is a big audience and a good gathering of poets at the National. Somehow I don't get nervious there.

[william williams]

Heather and Maureen along with many others no need to be ashamed, READ it to the people if you can because I do as it is not a comp you are going in. The story or the poem is the what the people wish to hear told by YOUR VOICE YOUR WAY they honestly could not care less what you look like unless you are doing a Vaudeville act. You cannot see a CD but you can hear it, blind people cannot see you, but they enjoy it so READ IT. Tell it to the people and make it come alive with your voice.

[Bob Pacey]

Yes it is a horrible experience but when you get it right it's like a drug.

Heather I find it harder to remember my own works and I do not know why this is.

Ah Maureen would you believe the poem I got stuck on was The Cross Eyed Bull and I know I got a bit cocky with the actions and mixed up the verses.

Zondrae when you do a lot of your own poems you can fudge a bit but if you do get stuck it is no good looking at the other poets as they in most cases do not know your works.

Bill I do a lot of shows on average one a fortnight and I will admit when i have a new poem that I want to try I will read it and tell the audience that they are my test crowd. If it goes ok them I make an effort to learn it and I will admit I get a buzz out of
getting them down pat.

Cheers all and thanks

Bob