Shake the Shaker Till We All Lie Down

A three-voice performance poem by Michael Dylan Welch, Lorri Lambert-Smith, and Jane Silberstein, read by three poets lying down with feet to the audience (see more photos below). Lines in the same rows below are recited simultaneously. Written and performed 2 November 2008 at LitFuse in Tieton, Washington for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), in response to a workshop exercise led by Mimi Allin. First published in Poets Unite! The LiTFUSE @10 Anthology (Cave Moon Press, 2016), pages 32–33, but presented here in October of 2009 and not previously published before then.

Begin by shaking conch-shell shaker to summon the dead.

Shake the shaker again to end.

Bottom four photos courtesy of Mimi Allin.