"I created a separate identity."

This audio clip took me a lot longer to edit than it probably should have, and still it needs some work. But no matter. I posted it because one of the first things I noticed when I began attending Verbal Blend workshops was the way many of the poets transformed when they took the stage. All are students of varying disciplines and before Cedric Bolton (the director of the program) begins the workshop, they talk about their schoolwork, share anecdotes, and laugh. Normal. But after a 15-minute silence period designed for free-writing, one by one, each person volunteers to share. Some sing, sway, yell, cry. And some become different people entirely.