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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Wednesday Night Open Mic

The Nuyorican Poets Cafe

Yesterday (Wednesday) I attended one of the biggest venues for poetry/spoken word in NYC - The Nuyorican Poets Cafe (Nuyo) - to attend their Open Mic Slam which occurs every Wednesday minus the first Wednesday of every month. I plan on performing next Wednesday (June 2nd), so I thought I'd go down and scout it out and get a feel for the atmosphere.

Surprisingly (maybe just a little bit) it was a comfortable atmosphere to be in; unlike the Friday Night Slam atmosphere that is just heavy due to the oversized crowd and pre-selected competitors.

The host for Wednesday slams is Jive poetic, who's a dope host and even doper poet, who made the Nuyo extremely comfortable for the poets there, especially the new ones. There were tons of poets who had mix styles and varied topics from hip hop to domestic abuse, being from a foreign country, parenting and finally...."dick balloons" aka condoms.

Some poets seemed like they've been up on stage before due to their awesome delivery via flow, gesture...their all around vibe; they seemed comfortable. Then their were others who were brand new, evidently shown when they forgot their lines and desperately struggled to start from the beginning to remember. Even some veterans stumbled a bit. It's always unexpected and frustrating, but we all go through it.

All in all, everyone there was welcoming, as the spirit of the Nuyo always is. Very encouraging group of supporters even against the tough scoring from the judges.

Time to gear up for the stage.

(I should be working on this poem instead of writing this)

Paaayce

Thinking of a Phone Line

I'm a nice guy
with nice ties. Too quick to tie knots
in relation-ships towards a destination seeming like
destiny.

(Imagine if she went by...Destiny)

and how false it would be,
to call her by name
to text her, thinking
I'm communicating with fate,
consummating a communion crazed with coined-tossed characteristics

her words dropping like anvils
deconstructs schisms of the surreal
til everything becomes what they are
and one world exists,
devoid of fantasy

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Take(s) Action

Been sleeping for a while now (on my writing), while falling asleep on schedule every night. It's a problem; a formula is needed.

On the other hand, I've been reading on a consistent basis. Very happy about that. Just started reading Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison...and it's dope (even though I just finished the first chapter). Took me about a whole 2 days to get through his intro and actually UNDERSTAND it. He creates light out of contradiction...being contradictory with a very creative character...see what I'm saying (lol). More to come on this book later...

Currently in the process of recreating habits (reading at home...writing on the move) Good luck to me...

Wednesday, May 5, 2010