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Attempting to write a poem voice to text

 

Attempting to write a poem voice to text

 

Well, this is quite amazing

I'm dabbling in the diabolical El Diablo world of voice-to-text and I'll be interested to see what's next

Occasionally I will type but realistically that's what I'm doing

The reason I do this is because I'm so fatigued but I'm worried that with once relying on this new technology I will lose innate ability, as invariably follows

Google Docs doesn't like my Australian accent it struggles 

Can I do poetry this way?

A poem is born from the intestines, lungs & heart of the sun

As it rises & sets

& I’m back to typing

Because the microphone can’t pick up my voice

It got lost

I’m feeling galvanised because I attempted the new

& found it lacking & so

Again I write

Or type

Occasion depending

I don’t want to always hate the new

Occasionally one must check out what all the fish is about

But I've found this microphone business 

Lacking 

Because literature is not Born This Way

I speak but I must project my voice

And poetry which it spells Power Tree 

Is whispered

As often as it is 

Silent

As often as it is

Seismic

John Donne

Just a bit of fun

 

In the end this poem was written partly by typing & partly voice to text. An experiment really. Not particularly enjoyable to do, which I think is the main thing. The voice to text didn’t like my voice & literary poetry is as much about giving voice to the silence within, the silent voices within. One’s spoken & poetic voices are not identical. Voice to Text reduces the range of approaches one can tackle, it seems to reward an assertive (‘certain’) voice, whereas poetry often benefits from the tentative. However, it might be useful for some things, like ordering Chinese food. But who knows? In fact, I often talk the words aloud when I write, but not to be heard by another (kind of whispered at times), but to sound out my spirit. I realise as I write this section that I’m not as fatigued as I thought I was & that poetry & the writing of it gives me energy. This italicised section is typed & I just think to sum up, that voice to text is better at Power Tree than Poetry.

 

 

Published & Copyright Malachi Doyle 2024.

 

 

 

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