A Diamond short: Paper robotics animation of Sleepy-Eyed Sam

  

About a week ago, I sent a note to my wonderful narrator, Justin Harmer, who played King David in my book, A Peek at Bathsheba. This time I had in mind a totally different character for him:

I’ve been toying around lately with a variety of artistic projects. The latest one is my “paper robotics” which I named Sleepy-eyed Sam. You can see it in action here. I wish I were a better puppeteer to make it justice…

My next move with this project is to have Sleepy-eyed Sam read a tongue-in-cheek poem I wrote a while ago. This is where I hope you can lend me a hand—or rather, a voice—for a one-minute recording. Once I have the recording I’ll fit the motion to it as best I can. (It's just for fun so the recording does not need to be done in a recording booth.) 

Are you game?

I was thrilled when he joined me in creating this animation. It’s only a minute or so, but with this over-the-top rendition of the character, it becomes a piece of life captured on paper.

To see the paper engineering project in progress, click Work in progress: paper robotics.

A Diamond Short, A Decade Late

Uvi Poznansky, 2007

A diamond short, a decade late

I come to stand outside your gate

Unlock and open, let me in

Forgive me, love; what is my sin?

I fled from you across the land

But now I ask you for your hand

A decade late, a diamond short

I can't imagine why you snort

My limbs are frail, my breath is cold

I must admit I may look old

I fall, I kneel, why—I implore

You are the woman I adore

I feel so weak, I feel so brittle

Don't touch! I may be impotent a little

You loved me once—or so I thought

Stop! Take your fingers off my throat—