"Poet or puppet"

Rives proposed the question, "Am I a poet or a puppet?", and what this brings me to is the debate between poet and performer. Rives is energetic, enthusiastic, and holds the audience as if a comedian would do. He makes extremely enthusiastic hand gestures that not only captivate the person watching him, but also enables him to persuade people to believe what he is saying. I say this because if a person enthusiastically believes in what they are saying, I am more prone to believe this and therefore the opposite applies. If someone were to perform something lackadaisically, than I am more likely to be unconvinced of their argument. This is where Rives begins to transcend performance and become a poet. It is through his energy and spirit that the audience becomes captivated not only in his actions on stage but the words and their meanings. Rives thoughts and concepts portrayed through his action on stage is what makes him a true poet. His words hold power and his concepts are ones that seem virtually untouched. Rives speaks of many things in his poems however, a reoccurring theme in his works are the power of words. Many of his sets are devoted to the comprehension of words. Rives is a performing poet, one that possesses extraordinary intelligence, uniqueness, and enthusiasm.