Finding My Way In Poetry

Surely I am not the only person who has a hard time following a poem when it is read aloud. Even when I have a copy in front of me I still lose track of the poem as it is read aloud. Reading the poem several times before the reading doesn't really help either. I always seem to get lost as the poem whizzes by almost unstoppably. There never seems to be a second chance, the poem is over before I know it. Too many stray thoughts enter my head as the poet is standing in front of me. I wonder what breed of dog the poet says is barking or what the beautiful woman is wearing and soon lose my place in the poem.
Once a month I attend a poetry reading at the University of Texas. Most of the time I enjoy those readings very much but no matter which poem is read, it seems flat on the page when the written word is placed before me. The readers performance is what keeps me coming back month after month. Their energy, humor, voice, manners and gestures all seem to bring the poem to life. Not being able to accentuate the punctuations, italics, quotation marks or line breaks seems to hinder me somewhat but I keep my ears open. Maybe next month I should began treating every poem as though it is a simple story or a series of anecdotes that can be embellished as the reader goes line by line.
Sometimes finding one's way is hard, other times the way seems to be fully lit. Spending a couple of years trying to find my way on the road of poetry has proven harder that I expected but I am not giving up. I'll attend poetry reading every chance I get and someday I'll find my way.