Yesterday's Poem

Accepted - Red Lion Square

2011-01-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to share my poems "Aiyana" and "Nylons" on Red Lion Square's audio magazine.

Let me know what you think!

Gil Scott-Heron - Winter in America

2010-12-24T18:44:00.000-08:00

On Collections

2010-12-19T21:51:00.001-08:00

Above is a quick video log about creating collections. I can see how so many people get addicted to vlogging. It's quicker than writing. It's instant. Y'all, I just may make this a vlog if I can figure out the best quality vid with the quickest upload.

I hesitate to vlog because I'm protective of my image on these mean Internet streets. I'm not a celebrity or anyone well known. In fact, most of this blog's followers know my government name. I just haven't decided if I will return to the field of education. Since I was in admin positions, it was important for me to portray a bit of a reserved persona. I'm nothing of the sort.

Still, we judge and are judged by our presentation. I dont' want to mix up vizionheiry with my professional name. When an employer searches for me, I don't want them to assess my enduring love for Michael Jackson and overstanning for Real Housewives of Atlanta with my ability to complete a work task. Yet this happens.

Since I've had to terminate an employee for their virtual presentation, I know just what employers do. Oh, and though it is against the Employment Non-discrimination Act, recruiters still Google you and try to find various stats about you: age, ethnicity, location, interests, etc.

I've allowed my personal life to overcome my discipline for writing. I haven't been writing. I failed at #novpad as you can see below (Onward to April's NaPoWriMo).

In good news, I did have two poems accepted to Red Lion Square. The show hasn't aired yet. I'll post it when it does!

Obeahwomen

2010-11-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

One look
and she knows

a spirit woman can
see another

there's no veil
just pathways of light

she tells me of
her friend

at 5:00 pm
an endoscopy

a tube and camera
to peer inside

it should detect
the source of the bleeding

pancreatic cancer
the only two words I say

Her steel blue eyes
look up from scanning

in wonder, in knowing
yes, it's probably that

The patient has no family
the clerk tells me

I will have to manage
the death by myself

just like that
we predicted the future

that was already
coming to pass

#new #novpad

Offering

2010-11-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

Offering

Dear one,

you'll never know
that which endures all things
because you cast your old

to meddle in dens
in front of tv sets
longing for connection

your ambition is lust
for success, for reward

but it is at your
grandmother's feet
where you learn love

#new

Haint

2010-11-01T23:53:00.000-07:00

sandalwood sawdust skin

you creep into my poems

and tread the borders

of my psyche.

your familiar scent:

brushfire on highways,

flyblown bushes,

the haint confusion

of manna and falling birds.

I would write I love you,

but that does not conjure you

here

only

in whispers.

*I'm participating in Novpad with a few modifications.

1)I'll probably only participate Monday - Friday.

2) My focus is on revising poems rather than creating new ones.

3) I will 
add new poems. 

4) My goal is to stop the bad habit of writing poems 
that stay in my notebook never to be published. 

5) I'm using novpad to 
practice self-editing so I can send these off to markets.

The Artist's Relationship with Silence

2010-10-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

"Phillis Levin, poet-in-residence at Hofstra University on Long Island, N.Y., describes how her inspiration comes from retreat. 'For me, poetry in particular comes from this source of silence. It's the opposite of that white noise that's created by too much stimulation.'

A creative retreat in the digital age - Los Angeles Times

My daily quest is to find that hour of silence. In this silence I can create a poem. I can edit a poem. I can listen for its wonder or finally relent that it falls flat. Without silence, I can't write. Nor can I read. Silence is my muse and accomplice. Without it, I'm useless as a creative.

In this article, John Lopez asks artists how they balance their need for solitude to create with the hyperconnectivity of the world. Many cope by turning off their devices and escaping to a retreat. Some see the effects of the digital age on their audience. One novelist , Gary Shteyngart preidcts a dystopian future where "long form text has disappeared and novels themselves are considered gross relics of a past age." Hopefully, this is just his imagination; I sense it's a warning signal.

Even if there isn't an audience to consume my work, I still will turn off the world seeking silence. Expressing myself in the written word is not just an artistic pursuit. It's matter of survival and self-care.

A Suite of Poems

2010-10-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

Would you pay 5 dollars to listen to 5 poems? What if you also had an accompanying booklet with the poems? In Pobiz, this would be too expensive. Since books are expected to be around $10 -$12, paying half that for just 5 poems seems exorbitant. But if Nikki Giovanni was hustling her early poems in this market, I'd think she would do just that. This is a woman who even made a "single" for her books putting an A and B poem on a 45.

I want us poets to return to this era when poetry was literally for the people. When poets didn't wait for market listings and chapbook contests to sell their work. I'm a throwback poet. I want a solid collection of about 60 poems. I want to distill those into 10 for a vinyl record LP. I want a 5 poem suite to package as an EP. I want a 45. The literal record and perhaps the Itunes download.

Is this wrong? To think that poetry has a monetary value? Spoken Word Artists (SWA) would reply no. In my neighborhood, an SWA may sell their work after a performance and at the local supermarket. I don't have the confidence to hand sell in such an aggressive way. But I wonder, why not? Why not go the full Maya Angelou route and sell poetry on cards, cups and plates? Does this cheapen the art?

Maybe it does.

Maybe it broadens the audience.

#JustFinish

2010-09-16T22:23:00.001-07:00

I’m a member of a virtual poetry workshop. We meet Saturday mornings at 8 am PST on webcam via Tinychat. It’s one hour of line-by-line feedback, laughter and pobiz discussion. Less the pobiz discussion. There are 5 members, but only 3 have virtually met: Evelyn, Jonterri and me. Even though I tell them my birth name, they still refer to me as Viz and that’s ok. I try to keep my identity on the web semi-secret (ip addresses tell the truth) because I’m an educator. My students tried their best to Google me and only found a few references to my young organizing days. Yay me for beating Eric Schmidt at his own game!

Each Friday, we email each other a submission set. The next morning, scraping the sleep out of our eyes, we read our poems, try to figure out appropriate line breaks, titles and offer encouragement. I’ve been in several poetry workshop groups and collectives. This is by far the best. Even when I show up without poems, just with ruminations Ev humors me. She’s tired of that so I must produce a set again.

I’ve only sent out two subs in the last 10 weeks but I’m new to this game. It’s a gamble, but it’s also a bit fun. Where’s the fun? Not in rejection but in assembling suites(or sets) of poems each week. Ev and Jay are quick to point out what works and what doesn’t, what fits and what juts out. It’s taught me a fine lesson in grouping poems.

I hope we never part. I hope we grow into annual retreats, quarterly workshops, and monthly goals. But even if we just stay 3 women meeting on the Internet until we’re all grey at the edges – it will be worth it.

YouTube - Poet Ntozake Shange on Mental Health

2010-09-12T23:19:00.000-07:00

Poet, Choreographer Ntozake Shange speaks about living with a mental disorder at the National Book Club Conference in July. Thanks to the folks at the African American Literature Book Club we have the video below.

Nature Poetry vs. Ecopoetry

2010-09-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

Juliana Spahr

'Juliana Spahr, a poet in San Francisco, put it brilliantly,' says Skinner. 'She said the nature poet focuses on the bird and the bird's nest, but doesn't turn around to confront the bulldozer … Ecopoetry expands the frame to include the bulldozer.'

'Nature poetry is observational,' adds Snyder. 'It is gazing at nature, and also about the psychological state of the observer. Whereas ecopoetry ....is looking for wildness wherever one can find it. Not just in wilderness areas, but everywhere human beings let go of the controls.'"

Dean Kupers in an article about New Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin - LA Times

Submit a review of a poetry book about ecopoetics to the Journal of Ecopoetics

Bookslut | The Problem with American Poetry

2010-09-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well Josh Cook somewhat agrees with me that MFA programs are creating professors, not necessarily poets.

"I would ask poets to initially eschew MFA programs. Get a job, read, and write for a few years first. This is not to say MFA programs are valueless, but that it is important to find a vision before one hones the craft of communicating it.

I'm not outright condemning MFA programs, either. There are many good poets (including some of my favorites) coming out of them (though coincidence does not imply causation), but I don't believe the institutions of today are capable of producing the visionaries of tomorrow."

Bookslut | The Problem with American Poetry via a retweet by Tara Betts

Review: Virgins in the Beehive by Kola Boof

2010-09-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

Virgins the Beehive, Kola Boof, Atlantic Library, Kindle Edition

Mike Levine and Rahel Thorsten of Atlantic Library confirm that Rob McEntegart, Vice President of Lion's Gate Studios and film producer Alex Barkaloff are interested in casting superstar Alicia Keys in a big screen adaptation of Kola Boof's sizzling hip hop novel, "Virgins In the Beehive" (Atlantic Library). Many in the industry are already saying that Alicia Keys would essentially be playing a fictionalized version of her friend Whitney Houston.

Kola Boof excels at weaving myth, magic, and mayhem in the lives of her female protagonists. In her award-winning novel Flesh and the Devil, she used Princess Ife Ife to reclaim a solid African creation tale rooted in woman's experience.

Virgins in the Beehive tells a story of a girl group. This trio includes JennaSet, Darling Nikki and Destiny Matthews. The novel explores what it takes for a woman to survive in the music industry.

JennaSet dreams of being an icon. She's deep sienna, thin, but not petite enough for the industry’s baby doll standards. JennaSet wants it all. She wants the classic fairytale romance and finds it in Steven Frame. He's every bit of Idris Elba fine with a Malcolm X sensibility. She wants sisters, so she forms a girl group with womanish Destiny Matthews and songwriter Darling Nikki. She wants a long career with complete artistic freedom. Executive Tommy Mott will give her the status she seeks with a few adjustments. But JennaSet's small compromises turn into complete submission then loss of identity in the music industry.

We follow JennaSet and her girls so closely, almost as personal assistants in their lives. We witness them carry the weight of others’ judgments. At times, even their spouses didn’t believe they were worthy of success.

It was suddenly apparent that his woman-of-the-world wife was in
reality nothing more than a child-woman, a hyper child who seemed
all alone even as he sat next to her."

Woven into Virgins is the question, “Who determines who is beautiful?” Boof uses her characters’ body type, complexion and hair texture to illuminate popular culture’s quest to commodify beauty.

"According to Hip Hop Beauty Standards, it literally became a
sin in America to be a black woman who looked black- nothing
could be more masculine and unattractive the music videos
seemed to say. "

This isn't a typical story of music. What’s being described as a pop novel works as a critical examination of popular culture. We meet executives Jiffy Pop and Tommy Mott who closely resemble names of well known label heads. It's hard not to laugh at the somewhat unrealistic character names, until we think about the characters they mimic.

It makes sense that some celebrities may be a bit concerned about this book. Though names are changed, there are unmistakable pop divas here. Rumor has it that the source of this book may be more than the author's imagination. Her friend Whitney Houston's back-story lies in the pages of this book.
Many of the characters are familiar celebrities. In fact, at times, Boof is telling us the secrets about some of the renown. They are drug addicts. They are cheaters. They are violent, even murderous. They live for the lush life. There is also an element of hyper sexuality. Everyone has sex irrespective of gender and once-assumed sexual orientation. The erotic intensity of the love scenes in this book would make Zane blush.

Included in the narrative is a magical realist subplot. A Mexican songwriter is on a quest to prove a myth of black sexuality. He travels to Africa seeking what priests back home tell him is an ancient cure. If not for his profession as a songwriter, the story of Ernesto Fox's quest for the holy grail of sexuality would seem to be a separate book entirely

What Boof calls her pop novel is actually a satire of popular culture. What do the entertainers risk striving to be number 1? What do they gain as they acquire access to the world's most restricted paradises? Is it worth it?
We may see these questions answered in a Lion’s Gate release. The buzz is Alicia Keys may star. Like other pop divas, Beyonce Knowles, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey she appears in the pages too. But maybe her ego is a bit like JennaSet so she's able to separate fact from fiction.

It's no wonder this book was already optioned for film. It's Valley of the Dolls meets DreamGirls. Full of scandal, drama, treachery, lust, and the pursuit of fame that only the energy of 3 women striving for success can bring. If you've always wondered about the inner lives of pop divas, Virgins in the Beehive will more than satisfy your curiosity about the truth behind the glamour.

"None of us ever asked to come here-none of us ever asked to
come here-but we’re here now and we’re all family.”

Note: Rolling Out printed a review to their large web audience. I'm happy to print the extended review for my readers here. Please support Kola Boof and buy the book available on Kindle.

Writing My Truth

2010-08-31T09:07:00.000-07:00

Even though I don't believe in it, I had Writer's Block. That is probably why I neglected this blog for so long. But I've been writing, I tell myself. But it's not writing my truth. It's lesson plans, workshops, all kinds of randomness in emails, but not my truth.

Instead of using this blog as a platform to highlight Black women poets and artists, I'll use it to highlight me. Yep, spotlight on me. Well, not necessarily me. It will be a way to offer updates on my writing life. That's what most other writers use their blogs for, duh!

Don't fret, if you like my mini-reviews on poets and singers, check out my tumblr where I post clips there. Also check out Poet/Professor Honoree Jeffers blog that highlights poets.

This means I'm changing the tag to "Musings on my Writing Life, or Lack Thereof.” I like it. It's not anything to live up to, just me. Don’t delete me out of your RSS feeds yet - I'm back. However I think I'll only post about once a week. Maintaining a blog is a bit too much for me to handle right now. Still I want to stay connected to you in a longer format than my foolery on Twitter.

Thank you to all the people who have subscribed (still haven't fixed my Feedreader) by RSS or Google connect. You each give me inspiration to update this blog.

Meanwhile, check out Ms. Crystal Wilkson's blog. She is an author, co-editor of literary journal Mythium, professor and all around cool person. Her post on book segregation in is reminiscent of Carleen Brice's I Love Black Authors Movement. Read both articles and become a member of the Book Mafia.

Those who believe this is a bribe post to get into Mythium are correct in their assumption. However, I haven't event compiled a submission yet so they can't even accept my work yet (which I'm sure they’ll do #bribepost).

On Not Living Up To Myself

2010-07-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

I'm going to change the tag to this blog (#youcare). It will be something about following my journey in writing poetry and learning about pobiz (sorry Keith). I don't want the pressure of posting bits about Black women songwriters. Blogger doesn't offer the easy-to-post format that I need for those posts. I want to share more Black women poets and their poetry. Since I primarily purchase their books, that will be easy.

I really like the style that Evelyn and Keith take on their blogs. They're personal. Keith offers anecdotes and Evelyn offers her discoveries. When Jonterri posts, it's about her thesis and MFA journey. Alise posts her own poems and provides a platform for other poets. [I follow many more poets' blogs but these are ones I try to read each week].

In order to free myself from not 'living up to my tag' I'm going to change it.

If you like the randomness, that is me, please follow my tumblr. I have a feeling that I will soon close this blog and mesh the posts with my tumblr account. Until then, keep this blog in your feed, and add my tumblr.

Literary Apartheid by jessica Care moore

2010-07-23T00:50:00.000-07:00

"I struggled with young students or advisors, for that matter, labeling me a “Hip Hop Poet, Spoken Word Artist (something I’ve never called myself), or dancing money nigga poet who jumps rope while reading poems in black face."

- Jessica Care Moore

Lauryn Hil on Making Music

2010-06-29T01:33:00.000-07:00

"I think you could argue

that there is a creative addiction

but, you know, the healthy kind."

Lauryn Hill: Interview : NPR:

*Dear Photographer, I couldn't find your name. If you come across this image on my blog, please feel free to remind me of your copyright.

Aiyana II

2010-06-04T01:02:00.001-07:00

What happens when they
use your name
as a banner?

Will they look after Grandma?

Will they marry your mothers?

Protect your sisters?

Will they be there
in the middle of a
raid with a pistol?

Will they fire back
at the brutal police officer?

Will they use your name
as a banner?

Photo from Sun Times

Aiyana

2010-06-03T04:11:00.001-07:00

How did your seven-year-old body
creep its way
into our collective consciousness?

Girls die everyday.

Black girls

But you force us to face
the questions we all fear.

What is the value of a
Black girl body?

Who prizes it? her?

How many Black bodies
will crumble
in front of badges?

How many more blues songs
for our girl-bodies?

Who, will protect us?

This begins my suite of poems around Aiyana Jones (I have 5 written with one more hatching in my heart). Ev (who posting a suite or series about her father) and I had a lil discussion about self-sabotage (see previous post), so I will try not to hold out from sharing my poems because they are unedited. Feel free to workshop this one (and all other poems on the blog) fellow poets.

Confession

2010-05-30T23:57:00.001-07:00

I have this thing. I don't post poems until I edit them. In fact now, I don't want to post poems until I record them. This, is probably some sort of self-sabotage of sorts since I write a poem almost every day.

The Temptations - Treat Her Like A Lady

2010-05-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

Ali Ollie Woodson

Newfoundland [Poem 4]

2010-05-13T22:26:00.001-07:00

land bare, untilled soil
waiting for cow dung, water,
some place to call home

Evelyn is leading a Twitter bookclub on Toni Morrison’s A Mercy. She’s also adding two poetry prompts per week based on the text. Hard for me to post unedited work. Urgh. I just hate it. Feel free to workshop it though.

Harryette Mullen wins $50,000 Jackson Poetry Prize

2010-04-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

In their announcement of the award, the judges wrote that Mullen's work is

"brilliant and enigmatic,
familiar and subversive.
Like jewels,
her poems are multifaceted and
shoot off lights.

Mullen uses the techniques of sound association, innuendo, and signifying, and this way makes the reader alert to the cunning of the English language."

Harryette Mullen wins $50,000 poetry prize

Erykah Badu on Creative Process

2010-03-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

"Music is what brings it out of me. I've never written lyrics without music — that would be poetry.

It's the music first, then I hum in a rhythmic, syncopated way. The next part is listening to it and decoding what I'm saying.

It's almost like a lump of clay and carving away at it, revealing what's under it."

Erykah Badu on Lady Gaga, Mary J. Blige, and Being a Twitter Goddess -- Vulture

Link via Brandi's Photoventure

Joan Armatrading – This Charming Life

2010-03-30T00:49:00.001-07:00

While Ms. Badu releases her fifth studio album New Amerykah: Return of the Ankh, there’s another legacy artist releasing her album across the pond. Joan Armatrading releases her 20th album This Charming Life today. This album has Armatrading adding poignant lyrics atop guitar riffs and simple drums.

On “Heading to New York City” she duets her bluesy voice atop two competing guitars and drums. On “Cry” she reveals “nothing you can do/is ever going to hurt like this.” Haven’t you felt that way?

Lyrically ‘Virtual Reality’ is the unique song encouraging listeners to unplug and“get right back in the arms of real life.”

If you like bluesy folk, check out Joan’s latest offering. As of today, it’s only $4 for the entire mp3 album on Amazon.

I’ll use the occasion to finally spin my vinyl album of Armatrading’s The Shouting Stage purchased almost a year ago.

Jill Scott - Do You Remember Me?

2010-03-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

We built sandcastles in the Serengetti

You splashed my face with Nile water

Do you remember me?

Goapele On Sensuality

2010-03-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

Photo by Lisa Lotus

I think as women it’s important for us to express our sensuality just as it’s okay to express our strength and intellect. - Goapele

Definitely check out the rest of this interview at online magazine AfriPop. It's just starting out but has unique content.

Goapele Talks New Album, ‘Milk and Honey’ « AfriPOP!

Erykah Badu – Window Seat (Poem Only)

2010-03-27T22:55:00.001-07:00

They play it safe
are quick to assassinate what they do not understand

They move in packs
ingesting more and more fear with every act of hate on one another

They feel most comfortable in groups
less guilt to swallow

They are us

This is what we have become

afraid to respect the individual

A single person within a circumstance can move one to change

to love herself

to evolve

Dr. Maya Angelou On Responsibility

2010-03-26T23:54:00.000-07:00

"It's come to me to say to each of you, that each of us,

we have the possibility of changing somebody.

Remember it. Stop it.

Don't pretend that you've always been free.

We have a responsibility to those who went before us, and those yet to come.

If you really know who you are, that you've been paid for already, you'll be a kinder person. You'll be more generous. You'll look after the children."

Huffington Post

India Arie – Roller Coaster

2010-03-26T13:28:00.001-07:00

“Everytime I turn on the radio,

It’s the ‘Sex, Lies and Misogyny’ show. ”

The lyrics in this song let me know that India.Arie has some even more potent songs in that vault.

“Now if you want to talk about a war

Let’s talk about the Congo and Darfur

Genocide is focused on the African race.

Especially in the ghettos of the U.S.A. ”

It’s time to release the poems and songs you KNOW that will have folks be uncomfortable friends. Truth is weapon.

[Yes I stan for Ms. Simpson. One day I want to go on tour with her, opening up with my 20 minute poetry set.]

Cherelle – ‘Everything I Missed At Home’ Live

2010-03-25T21:35:00.001-07:00

Cherelle plays Ann Darrow in her video for “I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On.” As far as I can recall, this is the only film image of Ann Darrow , captive of King Kong as a Black woman. Interesting factoid. Unfortunately BMG is blocking embedding the video (bad marketing move). I love you 28 followers and a few subscribers but I’m not taking the time to copy and re-embed tonight.

So, I found this treat of Cherelle performing ""Everything I Missed At Home” live. Give her a moment or two to warm up into the song. The pitch gets clearer. Wait for it. This 2007 performance comes from a DVD called Ladies Night Out Live. It includes Jean Carne (I should buy it just for that) and Shirley Jones. Check it out.

Know the tools of the poet's craft: Printer Edition

2010-03-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

Keith Wilson, one of my favorite poet-bloggers has a great post on buying a printer.

"It goes without saying that any venture you're going to invest a considerable amount of money in deserves the same kind of special attention you give your car, or your home. But I never hear writers talk about these kinds of things; it's always about art, or the struggle, or even the business (that is, trying to land gigs or teaching jobs), but rarely the more technical side.

I'm talking about the things that can save us a ton of money, like management of resources on road trips, or filing for taxes as an artist, or in this case, getting a printer.

A while back, when I had some cash burning a hole in my pocket, I made the somewhat drastic decision to buy a new printer. Don't let this precursor dissuade you from doing the same, because it turned out to be an excellent decision, but I'm not going to act as if a ton of planning went into this; I had an old printer I hated, and I wanted a new one.

But my inability to look before I leaped is to your benefit. First things first.

Sweet Honey in the Rock – They Are Falling All Around Me

2010-03-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

From the 1978 Redwood Records Release, Bernice Reagon Johnson penned this lament. Listen for Ysaye Barnwell’s guttural bass exchanging time with foot stomps.

It is your path I walk

It is your song that I sing

It is your load, I take on

It is your air that I breathe

It’s the record that you said

that makes me go on

It’s your strength that helps me stand

Ai – More

2010-03-20T23:39:00.001-07:00

for James Wright

Last night, I dreamed of America.
It was prom night.
She lay down under the spinning globes
at the makeshift bandstand
in her worn-out dress
and too-high heels,
the gardenia
pinned at her waist
was brown and crumbling into itself
What’s it worth, she cried,
this land of Pilgrims’ pride?
As much as love, I answered. More.
The globes spun.
I never won anything, I said,
I lost time and lovers, years
but you, purple mountains,
you amber waves of grain, belong to me
as much as I do to you.
She sighed,
the band played,
the skin fell away from her bones.
Then the room went black
and I woke.
I want my life back,
the days of too much clarity,
the nights smelling of rage,
but it’s gone.
If I could shift my body
that is too weak now,
I’d lie face down on this hospital bed,
this icy water called Oho River.
I’d float past all the sad towns,
past all the dreamers onshore
with their hands out.
I’d hold on, I’d hold,
till the weight,
till the awful heaviness
tore from me,
sank to bottom and stayed.
Then I’d stand up
like Lazarus
and walk home across the water.

This is getting hard for me. First Lucille Clifton and now Ai. I can’t explain why it’s hard. Just is.

Pickup the National Book Awarded Vice.

Naturally Alise - 'Wasted'

2010-03-17T23:54:00.000-07:00

Alise from Black Woman Lost & Found has a ReverbNation site!!! I'm excited for her. She's added poems to listen to and purchase (99cents folks) and a few other caveats. I love how her tone balances the minor violin chords on 'Wasted.' Very intricate delivery offering an anxious moody blues feeling.
You can also follow her on Twitter where she shares pop culture witticisms w/ humor and truth. (I have no idea why Reverb's widget is not showing in Google Reader. Bear with me folks - on a learning curve.)

EasyPrompter - the best free online teleprompter.

2010-03-17T21:33:00.000-07:00

You'll be hearing way more audio versions of my poems. (Not that you asked for them). I found Easy Prompter. Type your poem and it will scroll in a large font across your screen. It's an easy tool to practice recording and reciting at the same time.

It can also work as an editing tool for lines and enjambments. Reading your poem aloud, it's easier to hear the caesuras. Reading and hearing the caesuras in real time, makes the issues with line endings more apparent. Or maybe you're like me, and you like to mix technology with poetry.

Try out Easy Prompter. It's free. EasyPrompter - the best free online teleprompter .

Evie Shockley, Top Ten Reasons Why It’s Okay That There Are “Too Many Poets”

2010-03-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

Because more poets means more points of view, more experiences, more lexicons, more aesthetic choices—a wider range of voices, by any measure—will be available to the poetry reader. And, likewise, more and different readers of poetry will be called forth. If not inevitably, very probably.

Grace Jones - Corporate Cannibal

2010-03-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

I know there's a bookmarklet for Blogger. I just have to find it again. Until then, I'm in a love affair with Tumblr. I still want to keep this blog to separate subjects (Black women's voices here & my tomfoolery there).

Meanwhile, listen into Grace Jones's single 'Corporate Cannibal' from her 2008 Hurricane. The song begins with her speaking then grows into the drums, atmospheric affects, and the refrain

"I'm a man-
eating machine"

Next in the voice of the "legalized criminal" asks the listener to "pray for me" in an almost demonic tone.

Make Time to Po-em

2010-03-11T22:07:00.001-08:00

Image by chrisjohnbeckett via Flickr

Let’s face it. There are few full time poets in the world. A full time poet is a person who can live off of what they get paid for writing and sharing their poems. Most poets have another job that pays the bills. This means we’re in a constant war for time to invest in our true gift. This leaves less time to

write poems
edit poems
compile poems
record poems
recite poems
publish poems

And last not not least- SELL poems. These are our essential tasks as poets. So what aren’t you making time for?

El Debarge Playing Piano & Singing Time Will Reveal 2010

2010-03-10T13:34:00.001-08:00

I know you’re thinking, “What does this have to do with Black women’s poetry and songs?” I believe in being true to the tagline (^under the header), but I’m going to mix it up. I want to “curate” or “filter” information that followers and subscribers can dig. I’ll try to maintain a Black female artist lens on it when I can.

El Debarge speaks about comparisons to his deceased brother Bobby Debarge.

“I didn’t want to come off like I was sounding like Bobby. But actually, I was intimidated by Bobby, to tell you the truth. Bobby was such, he was so perfect, every time he opened his mouth. You know I was a perfectionist, but he was perfect…He never could flaw when he sang.”

So for those who fell in love with ~~Bobby~~ El Debarge in the early 80s, he’s letting you know drugs are “nothing to play with.” God intervened in his life and he’s back to crooning those love songs!

Jara this is for you.

Watch the interview after the jump.

10 Minute Prompt

2010-03-10T11:49:00.001-08:00

Give me a moon story.

Challenge: Do not use the word moon.

For an overview of 10 Minute Prompt go here.

Lucille Clifton – 11/10 Again

2010-03-10T11:43:00.001-08:00

some say the radiance around the body

can be seen by eyes latticed against

all light but the particular. they say

you can notice something rise

from the houseboat of the body

wearing the body’s face,

and that you can feel the presence

of a possible otherwhere.

not a mystical, they say, but human,

human to lift away from the arms that

try to hold you (as you did them)

and, brilliance magnified,

circle beyond the ironwork

encasing your human heart.

Reading this now, the poem works as her own elegy. Check out more poems from this collection - The Book of Light.

Roberta Flack and Maxwell Sing ‘Where is the Love’

2010-01-31T21:18:00.000-08:00

Originally a duet with Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack sings "Where is the love’ with Maxwell at the Grammys.

Compare their performance to Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s version.

I actually have this album on vinyl!

If I was smart, I would’ve recorded the Grammys in order to retain ownership of this video. Instead Rap Radar recorded and secretly (didn’t title it) uploaded it to Youtube. They’ll capitalize on the search traffic but I win by finally updating this blog!

Ganessa James – Into You

2010-01-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

I first saw Ganessa James on an episode of Grit Tv. I followed her on Twitter and she sent me an mp3 of the song below “Into You” from her upcoming full release. She released her EP Believer last year. Ms. James’s voice is strong yet her tone has a sweetness to it. The way she slides into high notes without one quiver is amazing. Ganessa James is set to release her full length album this year. Until then, get “Into You.”

Download “What’s Keeping You” (FREE) from Ilike
See tour updates at Facebook
Read past blog posts at Myspace
Tell her how much you love her music on Twitter

Res – Black.Girls.Rock

2010-01-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

Res dropped FREE EP Black.Girls.Rock a few weeks ago. Until I drop the complete album review, get into “For Who You Are.” This song is very special to Res. It’s the first song she’s co-produced along with legend Wah Wah Watson. I’m so happy she’s learning production! More autonomy for her, more music for us, the fans.

“See I don’t blame you for running

I never seen the dark places you’ve been”

Listen to “For Who You Are” & understand her greatness!

Next Update Jan. 11, 2010

2009-12-22T23:40:00.001-08:00

What have I been doing instead of updating this blog?

Pondering if I want to stay self-employed as a writer
Learning organic Search Engine Optimization strategies
Researching keywords & content writing
Analyzing the demographics/statistics/page views
Becoming a Jackie Jackson superfan
Letting go of people who don’t give to me.
Spending time with me

Please don’t unsubscribe to this feed or unfollow as a Google friend. I just had to reconfigure some priorities in my life. I’ll be back in 2010.

As The Jacksons would say, enjoy yourself.

10 Minute Prompt

2009-11-25T15:27:00.001-08:00

Write about opening a gift.

Challenge: Include a #quatrain in your poem.

For an overview of 10 Minute Prompt go here.

Cozbi

2009-11-24T10:56:00.000-08:00

And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Cozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family. [Numbers 25:15 NIV]

COZBI

The scent of my father's house

sun

the way Zimri's eyes glittered

in the nightsky

water

mother's laughter

the girls

the patter of things

people, on the desert floor

all the festival food tastes

These I will miss.

These

I trespass across bloodlines

and surrender

for my love.

6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand

8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman's stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped. [Numbers 25:6-8]

Shalonda – Just Go

2009-11-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Shalonda decided it was time to get her work out there. Her vehicle – Apple’s Garage Band. What impresses me about Just Go is Shalonda’s arrangement. She adds her jazz vocals on hiphop tracks built on soul samples. It’s a masterwork at layering and musical co-signing.

I first learned of Shalonda from a Soulbounce mention. I fell in love with her version of Misty Blue which pays homage to Dorothy Moore on Kanye West’s “Say You Will” Track. (Aside: Dorothy Moore started her own record label in 2002 and is touring internationally). On another song, we hear Shalonda signal Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child” atop Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown.”

Always keen to get to know more independent women artists I started following her on Twitter. I responded to some of her zany tweets and she mentioned me. Just that bit of connection made me go to her site to see where I can see her live (she lives a few hours away). No dates posted on her MySpace yet, but I’m sure she’s rehearsing for a live performance.

<a href="http://heyshalonda.bandcamp.com/album/just-go-a-mixtape">Fever by Shalonda</a>

I donated $10 to her next project. Just two days later, I received Just Go on compact disc. Wrapped around the cd is her handwriting with Thank You ___ (my name) written over it and her signature. Not only was I delighted with her personalization, I’m saving this to auction on Ebay in 10 year! Thanx Shalonda.

Luckily I live a few hours away from Los Angeles or I would stalk Shalonda and give her the proper fan treatment that she deserves. For now, I am the unofficial president of her fan club.

Download her free EP but if you love it as much as I do, please contribute to her next album and receive Just Go on cd (one gift out of the way). Make sure to donate at least $12 because the shipping cost is nearly $2.00.

Follow Shalonda on Twitter
Donate to her next project.
Subscribe to her Tumblr.

Natasha Trethewey – My Mother Dreams Another Country

2009-11-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

Native Guard, Tretheway's third offering, is a book of two narratives. There is a Louisiana soldier walking into the Civil War and the poet herself uncovering a relationship with her mother.

Trethewey workshopped her early poems in a supportive motley crue of Black poets. The Dark Room Collective, once hosted weekly Thomas Sayers Ellis’s, apartment honed the craft of many contemporary poets. So many members of the Dark Room Collective have gone on to win awards. Ms. Trethewey, however, earned the Pullitzer Prize for Native Guard in 2007.

Listen to her poem “My Mother Dreams Another Country” about miscegenation in the rural south.

MY MOTHER DREAMS ANOTHER COUNTRY

Already the words are changing. She is changing
    from colored to negro, black stilly ears ahead.
This is 1966 -she is married to a white man -
    and there are more names for what grows inside her.
It is enough to worry about words like mongrel
    and the infertility of mules and mulattoes
while flipping through a book of baby names.
    She has come home to wait out the long months,
her room unchanged since she's been gone:
    dolls winking down from every shelf all of them
white. Every day she is flanked by the rituals of superstition,
    and there is a name she will learn for this too:
maternal impression -the shape, like an unknown
    country, marking the back of the newborn's thigh.
For now, women tell her to clear her head, to steady her hands
    or she'll gray a lock of the child's hair wherever
she worries her own, imprint somewhere the outline
    of a thing she craves too much. They tell her
to stanch her cravings by eating dirt. All spring
    she has sat on her hands, her fingers numb. For a while
each day, she can't feel an1'thing she touches: the arbor
    out back -the landscape's green tangle; the molehill
of her own swelling. Here -outside the city limits_
    cars speed by, clouds of red dust in their wake.
She breathes it in -Mississippi -then drifts toward sleep,
    thinking of someplace she’s never been. Late,
Mississippi is a dark backdrop bearing down
    on the windows of her room. On the TV in the corner,
the station signs off broadcasting its nightly salutation:
    the waving Stars and Stripes, our national anthem.

Listen to Natasha Trethewey discuss Native Guard.

Read Natasha Trethewey poems from Native Guard.

Go On A Silence Retreat

2009-11-19T08:06:00.000-08:00

I would use all of Oprah’s billions to purchase unlimited silence. Silence and solitude are the playground for my creativity. There can be no distraction.

Remember solitude on a day long silence retreat. Here’s the trick, it must be a full day. If you have a partner or children, send them away the night before, and don’t let them come back until the day after. (This makes Saturday the optimal day for silence retreats).

You want to wake up alone with yourself, with silence.

The Rules

Do not communicate or interact with a human being. This includes:

In-Person Conversations
Phone Calls (Turn the Ringers Off)
Text Messages
Emails & Fax
Instant Messengers, Twitter
Blog Posts & Comments

Next, do not communicate with media:

Television (DVD Player included)
Computer games
Internet
Music with words (Instrumentals, Classical, Jazz allowed)
Book (yes book lovers, books)

The Night Before

Write a list of specific actions you want to complete. It may seem like underachievement, but focus on one action for only one poem. For the following example, I’ll use a fictional poem called Tread in Silence.

Finish writing Tread in Silence
Revise Tread in Silence
Record Tread in Silence
Add sounds to Tread in Silence.
Memorize Tread in Silence.
Rehearse performing Tread in Silence.

While it may be tempting to create a marathon by writing X number of poems, creating a submission package or compiling a chapbook, small actions work well. You may be surprised at how long it takes you to revise a poem or how quickly you can memorize one. This time is about self-discovery. By this practice, you’re learning what you need to delve into your writing process.

The Day

Wake up in solitude, with yourself and silence. Most books tell us to wake up and write. I prefer to take a shower, put on clothes, pray and eat breakfast. This can take me up to two hours. It’s ok if I give myself that time because I know it’s me preparing for the work. I take out my list and begin working on whatever task I prepared for myself. I break for lunch. Then I come back to the words, exercise, then dinner. After dinner, create a quick to do list, giving yourself 3 items that you want to work on during your next writing time. Again, make sure they are specific actions.

Phase in media by reading a book. Read it until you fall asleep . Of course parents should always check in to see how their children are doing. Feel free to talk with your partner but don’t tell them exactly what you were working on, keep it private. Sometimes we need to keep our creative parts to ourselves.

The Day After

Welcome your partner and family. Go out to lunch with a friend. Just reintegrate yourself back into the “noisy world.”

I’ve been taking silence retreats for 14 years. Most times, they last for only a couple of hours. Still, there are other times that last for days. These are always my most productive writing periods.

If you have a little extra cash ($50), go to a local bed and breakfast or motel. You can usually find great deals on Tuesdays. If you call ahead, you can even schedule a stay like an extended work day (checking in at 9 and leaving at 9).

Forgive Yourself

Even if you succumb to watching movies all day and don’t get any work done, you’ve still taken a mini vacation from communicating with others. Schedule another silent retreat for the following month.

If writers write, then poets poem. Use your solitude and silence to poem.

10 Minute Prompt

2009-11-18T00:19:00.001-08:00

These were the reasons to stay.

For an overview of 10 Minute Prompt go here.

Joy Jones – Beautiful

2009-11-16T19:46:00.001-08:00

In this video Joy Jones & her “baby on the bass” [husband] give us an anthem worthy of repeat play.

For further exploration of her sound, watch her vids starting with Glass Boxes.

Check out tracks from her album below.

10 Items You Need to Hustle Your Poetry

2009-11-05T12:46:00.001-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

Some of us ~~ok me~~ work at perfecting our craft for years. We fantasize about MFA poetry workshops and dream of all the silence and solitude to write. Our thesis will get picked up by a university press and our life as a poet begins.

There is a shorter route. If you’ve written 20 poems, there is no reason not to organize and share your work. What distinguishes modern poets from our literary ancestors is our access to communication media. With all the avenues available to us today, it can become overwhelming to figure out how to distribute work. Below are a few items that can help your hustle.

a bookmark
a broadside
a book (preferably with 6 poems accepted in literary journals/magazines)
an album
an audio interview
a video of a live reading, recitation, or performance
photographs
newspaper, magazine, or blog feature
website (with upcoming events)
press kit

I debate friends saying Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Tretheway’s poetry may not go well in the spoken word/slam/open mic scene. She wouldn’t memorize her poems. She doesn’t read with a cadence. She probably wouldn’t even have a book or cd to sell afterward. Yet she won the top prize in literature.

On the other hand, I have witnessed people with hustle sell unfinished, unedited, unpoetry, by sheer force of personality. There’s something to be learned from both. Polished pieces sell. Marketing works. Surely those who cherish the written word can offer a polished product with a little hustle.

Can you think of another item to hustle your poetry?

10 Minute Prompt

2009-11-04T00:21:00.001-08:00

Write about casting a spell

For an overview of 10 Minute Prompt go here.

Senryu

2009-11-03T10:52:00.001-08:00

My body palace

open to entertain your

uranium heart

Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple

Quick Tool to Discover if your Haiku is a Senryu

A great collection of haiku and senryu by Jara at Random Rhyme and Reason.

Betty Everett – You’re No Good

2009-11-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

There are dozens of versions of "You’re No Good". I think Betty Everett sings it best with Dee Dee Warwick a close second. Though Warwick’s statement is guttural, Everett is defiant, anthemic. The foot stomps by ~~The 5 Heartbeats~~ The Dells give it that extra down home feel.

I’m not sure if it’s rare, but my 45 was distributed by Eric Records with classic The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss) on one side and "You’re No Good" on the B side. I purchased this record for 19 cents. I know I keep referring to my landmark purchase at Rockaway but I can’t help but marvel at the jewels lounging in record shops.

Straight From Vinyl Betty Everett – You’re No Good

In my Google Images and the Politics of Remembering analysis - When choosing an image of Betty Everett, it as interesting to see two pictures that come up, which represent two ways she’s remembered.

A Hometown Gal

A Glamorous Woman

Listen to Betty Everett and Dee Dee Warwick give you the yes-ma'am handclaps on "You're No Good." I added Linda Rostadt's version for my blue-eyed-soul folks.

Jaha Zainabu – Hold On

2009-10-30T12:43:00.001-07:00

I saw Jaha Zainabu perform in the early days of FlyPoet’s in Los Angeles. I was so memorized by her voice that I scoured the Internet for her. She didn’t have much of a web presence then. Thankfully, she’s developed a web identity. I hope she’ll add videos of her performances which are truly worth seeing live.

“Hold On” is a poem about homelessness, desperation and faith. Listen to how the accompanying bass and drums rise to meet the timbre of her voice.

Follow Jaha Zainabu on Twitter
Purchase her Journey on Poet Cd.

Publication: Calyx Press

2009-10-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

CALYX exists to nurture women’s creativity by publishing fine literature and art by women. CALYX is committed to:

introducing a wide audience to high quality literature and art by women
providing a forum for diversity and underrepresented writers and viewpoints
discovering and publishing emerging and developing writers
preserving publications for future audiences

[from website]

Guidelines	“excellently crafted poetry that also has excellent content” lyric and free verse up to 6 poems
Reading Time	October 1 – December 31
Response Time	9 months
Payment	Contributor’s Copy
Sample Copy	$10.00

10 Minute Prompt

2009-10-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

These are the lies I told you

"Tea Leaf Series #6" by Les Pinter

For an overview of 10 Minute Prompt go here.

Antonio in the Kitchen

2009-10-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

I stare numb at the wall
pale apricot
lingering behind his back
He's six feet of jelly
yet confident as our first day
he darts his tongue
into mine
his mouth, a cave
moist and hot like a
Brazilian jungle
new tongues
slippery and thick as
eel leather

Another re-post. This poem is about my first official kiss with my twelve-year-old boyfriend.

Skunk Anansie – Infidelity (Only You)

2009-10-26T22:57:00.001-07:00

In an effort to maintain estrogen purity, I present English singer Skin. The sweat alludes to the intense performances she gives on highly charged rock songs. On this tune we witness a haunting sincerity in her tone.

I knew of Skin as an independent artist. I didn’t get around to the Skunk Anansie era until my trip to Rockaway Records where I purchased award-winning Stoosh. For the hardcore fans, Skunk Anansie are back together with tour dates forthcoming in 2010.

Wanda Coleman

2009-10-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

One day, you will see me at a podium humming a tune before I share my poem. I won’t sound as beautiful as Wanda Coleman. Listen to her command of language, voice, and tone. The second poem she reads scatters a diminuendo across the lines. Let Wanda Coleman mentor us in how to move from poem to poem with ferocity in this 10 minute set.

I fell in love with her work in Imagoes.

There are delusional nuts selling her 1994 album High Priestess of Word for less than a $1.00 on Amazon. Purchase it!

Is Your Haiku a Senryu?

2009-10-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

A visual comparison of haiku and senryu.

I know we tend to remix things in America. For instance, we add titles to our haikus and rarely are they statements with commentary. Still, I offer this post in the name of Basho.

Please consider, that a short poem that is not about nature or the changing of seasons is not a haiku, it is a senryu in hiding. All that time you thought you were writing haiku, it was probably senryu. Now that you know, add it to your repertoire.

Add your senryu below

10 Minute Prompt

2009-10-21T22:32:00.000-07:00

Write about a bruise.

For an overview of 10 Minute Prompt, go here.

Muscle and Skin

2009-10-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

little brown
round
discs
upon
a Herculean chest
my tongue
will
never
again
lick at
the hairs
measured
across
a sepia
stretch of
muscle and skin

Re-post. The image is Picnic in the Grass...Alone by Faith Ringgold

Iyadede – When I Was a Kid

2009-10-19T00:12:00.000-07:00

This woman has tons of creativity to share with us. You can say you knew her before she blew up. Get into this!

Check out Iyadede’s home page. This gift came by way of Afropolitan Negrita.

Dr. Rashidah Abu-Bakr – Ode to an Old Piano

2009-10-16T15:01:00.001-07:00

Last week was Amiri Baraka’s 75th birthday celebration. One of my tweeps Daoud Abu-Bakr posted pictures of the attendees. One woman seemed familiar, below the caption was “my mother Poet Rashidah Abu- Bakr.” This short film, created by director Ray Grist features Dr. Abu-Bakr from her suite Music Magic.

I remember Dr. Abu-Bakr for her unique commitment of using poetry and theatre in workshops to regular folk. Though the site is still all over the place, you can rely on the African American Literature Book Club for great content. They have a bio of her here.

Check out her most recent book of poems Canata for Jimmy.

Have You Published A Broadside?

2009-10-15T13:46:00.000-07:00

View Full Album

A broadside is a great way to introduce your poetry. Most broadsides are printed in the standard 8 1/2 by 11 size on a heavier card stock. The average broadside prints at about 100 copies.

Select a poem that works as an anthem (or even an anti-anthem). This poem has a strong opinion and shows your craft but is accessible to the average reader. Then choose an image associated with the poem. If you don’t want to border on ekphrasis, feel free to choose a simple design. In a word processor, embed the image or design as a background.

After you add the poem to the layout, decide on other style elements. For instance, you may want to place the title in block letters along the left hand side of the paper. Use the style elements to add your personality. Some poets hand sign each broadside.

After you’re finished with design, add your contact information in small print at the bottom of the page. Make sure you direct readers to your website and mention a recent entry in a print publication or book.

Finally, share your poems with others. You will be tempted to print 100 copies, but instead choose to print 10 to 25 in your first edition. You don’t want to get overwhelmed.

Leave the broadsides in places where people read publicly: libraries, cafes, delis, galleries, park benches, hairstylists, even doctor/dentist waiting rooms. Here’s the challenge, offer these broadsides to people who are not family, friends or coworkers. Spend a weekend sharing your work with strangers. Take along a spouse or friend if you need a bit of courage.

If you don’t have the time to record your own cd, or publish a chapbook, why not hand out a broadside at your next reading? Even if it’s a local open mic, it introduces you to an audience. If you do have a cd and book, try this:

“I know you may not be able to afford my book or cd, but please walk away with a free broadside. We’ve had such a wonderful time tonight that I don’t want money to get in the way. I’ll be handing out free broadsides and a bit of small chat afterwards. Stop by.”

You’re opening up yourself as an artist to extend the emotional connection you created in the poem’s presentation. Those who really enjoyed your poem will stop by to pick up the broadside. You’ve just expanded your readership!

A broadside is a poet’s literary equivalent to a musician’s album single. A broadside should get people interested in more of your writing. To go one step further, have a downloadable pdf, audio version and perhaps a video of reading or performance of that poem on your website. It’s an instant hook for the reader who wants to extend that relationship with your writing. The goal is to create unique relationships with readers who will want more. With one poem you can generate consistent a readership.

10 Minute Prompt

2009-10-14T09:56:00.001-07:00

Write about being in a closed space

Untitled by Martin Jacobson

For an overview of 10 Minute Prompt, go here.

Death Necklace

2009-10-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

The wood-rotted shed open

halfway. You can smell

peach preserves hovering

atop a dead rat. Inside, the

green rake lies perpendicular

witness to the righteous slaughter.

Margaret with Priscilla

wound round her left side

the butcher knife in her right,

the look of a stunned owl.

Margaret Medea

like Abraham at Mt. Moriah

serves a God who barters

for one's desires

who craves

prostrating bodies,

burning flesh,

the cleanly carved

neck of an almost

slave girl.

Who among us

has the courage

Or the steady hand?

A poem about the place where Margaret Garner, a woman who freed her child from slavery through death. This is the woman Toni Morrison featured in Beloved as Sethe.

I'm slacking on the Tuesday poem posts so I went to this poem as a repost.

Esther Satterfield

2009-10-12T02:14:00.001-07:00

Esther Satterfield’s music career was short. She leaves 3 albums: Once I Loved, The Need to Be, and the live concert recorded Land of Make Believe with Chuck Mangione. She married, raised five children and widowed. She’s taken on her husband’s last name and is now as Esther Jordan living in Maryland.

Not much is written on why she vanished from the booth. My Mom recalls her falling into drugs and eschewing the music industry. I wish she would come back. I’d love to see her live in concert. Listen to her pure toned voice singing Sarah and Long Hard Climb from The Need To Be.
Sarah

Long Hard Climb

What’s your favorite song from The Need to Be?

[link updated. Please visit My Little Jazzarium.]

Carolyn Rodgers - Affirmation

2009-10-08T16:37:00.001-07:00

A tweet from PagesFullaSoul sent me to Carloyn M Rodgers’s Poem for Some Black Women. I went on a video search for Carloyn M Rodgers and found her at Northwestern University giving a talk on the Black Arts Movement. She ends the talk with the poem Affirmation. Don’t worry about the nearly 27 minutes, I cued the video to start directly at the poem mark with Splicd.

In her talk, she mentioned she had a broadside to share after the reading. Unfortunately, she didn’t mention any recent publications of her self-published debut How I Got Ovah.

What images stand out to you?

The Importance of Table of Contents

2009-10-08T15:24:00.001-07:00

Image by blacque_jacques via Flickr

In the beginning of Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg challenges readers to find writing tools. The right pen and notebook can free a writer. It took me years to discover that I prefer an 8 1/2 by 11 inch spirally bound sketcher’s pad without lines. I didn’t realize that lines on paper made my words feel constricted. It radically changed my writing. I wrote faster, deft lines. For those poets who write in notebooks, this post is for you.

I came across a fabulous tip. Do not write in the first few pages of your notebook. When you’ve completed the notebook, add page numbers. Then add a Table of Contents to the front pages. List your poems and their page numbers. If you want to be ambitious, add a category or theme. Now you’ll be able to see the thematic connections in your poems at a glance. When you collect the poems together for a submission set, chapbook or a cd, you already have a starting point to organize your work.

Isn’t each complete notebook, a collection itself? How delicate and clean a Table of Contents can be. It’s a map to an entire collection. Honor National Poetry Day in the Uk, take a completed notebook and add a table of contents.

10 Minute Prompt

2009-10-07T22:36:00.001-07:00

You’re in a small cafe.

For an overview of 10 Minute Prompt, go here.

Organizing Tool for Poetry Sets

2009-10-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

Have trouble organizing your poetry? I have the same problem. Since the poetry establishment prefers poems in sets of 5, I’m embarking on categorizing my poems into these numbered sets. I added this guide to help you.

Also, if you want another visual tool to show your poems’ relationships to each other, check out the template below.

Read my How To Organize Poetry article on Ehow.com for a detailed guide to compiling your poetry set.

How will these tools help you organize your poetry?

Fancy Talk

2009-09-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

Honeymoon honeydew
put a spell on me
some Haitian vodun
some djembe
some sweet bare bones rhythm

Pour your dreams on my skin
illuminate me
with ya fancy
talk sweetsticky
talk
speak my
language

The recession has me flirting on Twitter. I was so delighted that Constant knew the difference between a senryu (loosely styled) and a haiku that I proposed to him. We engaged in a brief Twitter romance (brief as in 10 minutes max). His playfulness stroked my muse which brought you the poem above. Listen to it below (Subscribers- it's on the webpage).

Check out more music from Constant that inspired the context.

10 Minute Prompt

2009-09-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

Write about a time the lights went out.

Even if you don’t write to the prompt, it may show up in other ways. Last week’s prompt was “Write about a time someone lost control.” Yesterday I wrote a triolet about Derrion Albert. I’d like to think it lodged there in my subconscious.

For an overview of 10 Minute Prompt, go here.

Strike Straight For Derrion Albert

2009-09-29T20:25:00.001-07:00

They killed a Black boy.

Stomped him, face down. Black

boys of today no longer toy.

They killed a Black boy.

Erased his face, his Mama's joy,

told him ain't no coming back.

They killed a Black boy,

stomped him, face down, Black.

Listen to Strike Straight

It's taken me a while, but I finally understand the triolet. Evelyn Alfred has an ongoing Triolet Thursday. She’s becoming an expert in the form. Subscribe to her feed for more treats.

Do you know the poem that gave me the inspiration for the title?

Tata Vega – Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister)

2009-09-28T17:38:00.001-07:00

Though Rod Temperton and Lionel (Hello!) Riche wrote it, Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister) is the definitive song of The Color Purple.

Now that I own the 45, I wanted to share Tata Vega’s voice ~~not Margaret Avery~~ on vinyl.

Tata Vega - Miss Celie’s Blues

You may also appreciate the B side Celie Shaves Mr. Scarification Ceremony.

Check out Tata Vega’s Myspace account for songs & videos.

My $11 Record Store Trip

2009-09-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

View Full Album

Rockaway Records sits next to a library and across from a Vietnamese restaurant. The vibe was cool breeze, hipster trendy on a Sunday afternoon in Silverlake. A tweet from record locator wax_fm promoted Rockaway Records annual sale. They offered cds for 99 cents with up to a 75% mark down for lps.

I bought 6 lps,6 45s, and 4 cds for only $11. I walked away with a bag full of goodies and tons of guilt. I already have 50 lps and I’ve only digitized 2 records. I promised myself no more collecting until I digitize and share. Yet, the offer of a long drive and the quiet friendship of dust and records won out!

When’s the last time you’ve been to an independent record store?

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-22T23:44:00.000-07:00

Editorial: Jump-Off or Sex-Positive?

2009-09-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

Essence's treatment of sexuality in articles will always need work. They are trying to appeal to all facets of their audience without interrogation or analysis.

I don't know Jozen Cummings, but his former positions at Vibe and King (more specifically) reveals what he values in Black women.

Many are enraged with the article because it presumes that the readers are implicity gender-identified as potential jump-offs or as Cummings defines,

"woman we sleep with until we’re tired of sleeping with them, or, God forbid, they’re tired of sleeping with us."

Another perspective is that it speaks to sex-positive women who are comfortable exchanging sex for sex.

I try to stay out of other women's beds (aside from my personal friends who let me in). But this campaign over the article reminds me that writing to and about Black women and sexuality will continue to be complicated.

Overall, I'm glad that this article has sparked conversations about who can speak for Black women's sexuality, gender roles, and overall positions in society. [For further info check out Gail Wyatt's Stolen Women: Reclaiming Our Sexuality, Taking Back Our Lives]

It also may give the opportunity for one person to interrogate why s/he chooses to offer sex in exchange for sex. Is it truly a sex-positive statement or fear?

Time Warner, owner of Essence is interested in selling products
to their segment market, not the liberation of Black women. I recently subscribed to Essence after years without a subscription. I decided to unsubscribe again because I accepted that Time Warner and their product, Essence magazine, doesn't serve me or my growing interests.

For an alternative to Essence try Mimi's Magazine. It's owned by an African woman who has started a loose collective of writers and photographers who offer content on similar categories of Essence. It rarely promotes a product and all contributors are self-identified African women.

Anyone who knows of the Riot GRRRL movement knows that women have been creating compelling content at an increasing rate. There are many Blackwomen getting into the party (albeit a bit late). Let's seek and support women who are offering alternatives to commodifying Black women's experience.

Do you know of other Black women owned newsletters or zines? Drop a link in comments.

10 Minute Prompt

2009-09-21T23:50:00.000-07:00

Write about a time someone lost control.

For those with writer's block or those who just need a bit of a push, I'll feature a prompt from Judy Reeves book A Writer's Book of Days. It features a writing prompt for every day of the year.I encourage you all to buy it. I literally had to steal it back from my friend/workshop cofacilitator.

Set a timer for 5 to 10 minutes and write. Don't forget to write your prompt, title and date in your notebook (or on your computer).

Feel free to keep your writing private, post a link to it on your blog, or feature it below in comments. If you would like line by line feedback of this variety, just let us readers know.

Tip: For those in the collecting/categorizing/collecting mode, choose a poem that loosely fits the prompt. (We'll never know you didn't write it today).

And if you just want to post a poem that you know at least 1 person will comment on (me), but it has no relationship to the prompt, post below. The whole point is to get in the habit of writing or working on poems at least 10 minutes a week. It's achievable!

Straight from Vinyl - Ike and Tina Turner

2009-09-21T00:26:00.000-07:00

Though she didn't write the songs below, Tina Turner is a songwriter. In the liner notes, she reminds us that she ~~used to be~~ is a "Baptist and blues" singer. Since Turner calls soul "hot, greasy food" I labeled the album funk (Ike plays a mean guitar) but it should list as rock n roll.

The album cover of Something's Got a Hold On Me has a bit wear and tear but I AutoStitched it for the vinyl enthusiasts.

Listen to Tina Turner and Ikette Venetta Fields battle it out on I Know (You Don't Want Me No More).

I also liked hearing Ike and Tina wailing "You Are My Sunshine"to each other.

If you know of a Tina Turner song with as much soul, blues, and funk on these songs post-Ike, PLEASE let me know in the comments section.

Read Your Books in a Canoe

2009-09-20T01:05:00.001-07:00

In an LA Times article photojournalist Jennifer S Altman shows Lev Grossman in his reading room.

Grossman uses a minimalist design with an Old World accent in this room. I’d love to spend a day sailing through books in this canoe.

Check out more of Altman’s photography at Nectar and Light.

Pamela Sneed - There There

2009-09-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

I didn't learn about Oludumare, Elegba, Oshun, Yemaya, Oya, and Shango until I was 15 years old. I kept reading these names in all the literature but never truly grasped it all until I was about 18.

My uncle, a baptist minister his whole life, decided to get a formal theological training that resulted in a Doctorate of Divinity. The second doctorate in our family (the first is a neuroscientist). We had a conversation in which he compared the African American worship experiences to Youruba, Santeria, Voudon practices.

I picked up Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom Than Slavery at the now-closed Foozles (R.I.P.) which is somehow signed! In the following video of poem "There, There" Pamela Sneed recounts her connections to these practices.

I haven't picked up Kong yet. But if you have, add your review in the comments below.

22 Things I've Noticed in the Poetry Blogosphere

2009-09-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

1. There are unique well-crafted poems that deserve to be uploaded in an e-book & mp3 this weekend.

2. A collective or writing workshops are behind the quietest bloggers.

3. Even MFA graduates struggle with how to promote their poetry books.

4. Some poets are actually speakers not poets.

5. The Japanese should send a PSA about the form parameters of the haiku.

6. Become an expert on one form.

7. Many poets are reluctant to add voice recordings but will reveal their full name & address online.

8. Some poets think creating a movement around their poetry is the best way to promote their work.

9. Celibritizing unpublished poets can be encouraging or narcissitic.

10. Modern published poets largely go unread, unheard, and unkown.

11. Some poets do not own 1 poetry book (not because they read them at the library frugalistas/os).

12. Some spoken word artists do not know about the Black Arts Movement, Beat Movement, Harlem Renaissance or New Negro Movement, but lay ancestral claim to being a griot.

13. Some view the identity of a poet as akin to being a rockstar.

14. There are great book reviews that have a direct link to purchasing the book!

15. Content in between poems adds a bit of personality to the blog.

16. A poem per week over a poem per day may be more sustainable over time.

17. Submitters, question, as do I, why journals who accept electronic submission take months to reply.

18. Some poets are actually journalers, not poets.

19. Blogs are a great way to organize hobbies and interests online.

20. Some poets view comments or blog post features as attacks or attention-stealers.

21. Poet bloggers can become the top tier of true influencers, not direct marketers, online.

Feel free to add your own #22 below.

Line by Line: A Haiku and a Recreation

2009-09-18T02:04:00.000-07:00

A weekly highlight of lines that struck me.

when you're open
the good and bad can enter

Open by Alise at Black Woman Lost and Found

You can tell by
the way she carefully rubs
her painted lips while
stroking a singular silk bead

To a Bourgeois Sister by Melanie Henderson

Visit their blogs and add these two poets to your subscription

Rest In Peace: Zakes Mokae

2009-09-18T01:25:00.000-07:00

I remember seeing him in a play at the Mark Taper Center that my mother took me to when I was younger. It's not listed in his Broadway Database. We may remember him as Big Kathy in A Rage in Harlem, but he was so much more.

A Los Angeles Times Obituary

What Would Thembi Do discusses his obscure status in film contrasting his roles in plays. She also reminds us how close the apartheid era still is and Mokae's period in exile from South Africa.

I looked for an LA Sentinel article but they'll probably print it two weeks after his funeral.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-16T15:42:00.000-07:00

Sharing September 11

2009-09-14T23:42:00.000-07:00

A poem inspired by my former college roommate. She was a right wing Republican. I was a spiritual member of the Lowndes County Freedom Party. We barely spoke to each other.

5 Reasons to Attend a Beat Swap Meet or Vinyl Record Fair

2009-09-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

Last night I was feeding my Twitterholism while reminded by @beatswapmeet of their Sunday monthly fair at the Jazz Lounge in Los Angeles. I tweeted that I couldn't make it because of gas money. @beatswapmeet offered to pick me up in a helicopter. While a helicopter ride to LA to pick up vinyl is a woman's dream-come-true, this economy will not make that work. Don't wait on a ~~ghettobird~~ helicopter ride to attend your first swapmeet, find a reason to go!

1) Open Drum Sounds

While the vinyl versus cd quality debate is still raging, I myself notice a distinct difference. When I played The Chamber Brothers, it was if they were in my bedroom serenading me. Not the same with Maxwell's crooning tightened on the cd. So, go to the fair and buy vinyl to hear the pure sound of unfiltered drums and hi hats looming in the air.

2) Obscure Records

A few weeks ago, I treated my Mom to her first ever Amoeba visit. A former dj, she was in a strange paradise of helpful scruffy older men . She looked for an Esther Saddefield record that I later found online. I thought to tell her she could probably find just about anything at a swap, but seeing her there, would kill my hipster vibe. Still if you're looking for an out-of-print vinyl and can't find it at your local record store, Discogs or Amazon (they're in the vinyl business now), go to the fair.

3) Sounds to Sample

I've taken up the hobby of becoming a producer. (Missy Elliot, I'm coming for you). Even with lower priced tools, learning how to sample is more complex than I thought. At a swap, you can hear that horn riff or flute solo that would complete your beat cd. Hearing a breakbeat, a bassline, from the spin, you can go up to the dj, buy the record and make new friends (if not with the dj, with your new record).

4) Heady Debates

Want to discuss how you just can't feel Curtis Mayfield after mainstream hiphop scavenged his records? Would you like to debate Mingus's influence on the trip hop movement? Excited that Wax Poetics covered Brazilian musicians, but disgusted by the new adopters? Discuss, argue,and debate at your local swap. You're sure to find someone there who feels the same way you do.

5) Find a Date

There tends to be tons of testosterone amongst the dusty covers. You have the young feministas who are there to make a statement of their loyalty to hiphop, but it's still a male dig. So if you're a woman, whose interested in a certain type of man, put on your best thrift store find and roll to the swap. You are sure to turn the head of at least one man there. If you hold eye contact long enough to divert him from haggling with a dealer, he's the one. No questions asked. Even if you're not an audiophile, he'll love your willingness to learn about music. You'll be the student of his fantasies.

Photograph from Retro Thing

Affirmative Action: 3 Male Poets to Follow

2009-09-11T03:26:00.000-07:00

This blog's purpose is to highlight Black women artists, in particular poets and songwriters. Still, I believe in Affirmative Action. Below are three male poets to follow.

we know what we want
- liaison
not empty space
Read more by Constant

And we can change anytime we want,

It all in the choice

No effort, no work, no job, no savings, no money
Read more by Dele

Then we walk—holding our
hot and cold stories—past the makeshift
poems on the wall, to a set of seats resting
on the black checkered tile.

Read more by Keith Wilson

I hope they don’t get upset at me posting their pictures (without asking permission). They’re all future babydaddy candidates (or in light of recent e-conversations, husband-material) and could be single. Nothing sexier than a man’s mind! Subscribe to their blogs!

Line by Line

2009-09-11T02:29:00.000-07:00

Line by Line is a weekly (hopefully) feature from my subscriptions of poets’ blogs.

wish my breast could know the sun
the same way this girl
knows danger
from Glossy by Nilsa V Torres

pour like milk from the mouth
of a hand-made antique
from Be Real Black by Melanie Henderson

We kiss on the moon
And cuddle with the sun
from Grey Matters by Ain Hd on Black Woman Lost & Found

The treadmill is calling my name
This muffin top, showing my shame
from The Treadmill is Calling by Evelyn Alfred

Down by the Riverside
I Stood on the River of Jordan
from West African Sand by Alisa Lawton

You could play a unicorn or a wizard or golden fleece.
from Mythical Creatures by Bianca Spriggs (by introduction of Roberto Mulatto)

Take a few moments, read and comment on their poems at their blogs.

Kola Boof - Now Playing

2009-08-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

My literary trinity is Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Gloria Naylor. I’ll soon have to make room for another queen on the throne, Kola Boof who counts Walker and Morrison among her favorites.
Ms. Boof is an award winning writer who writes for and about African women(including those of us diasporic daughters). I had an engaging conversation with @kolaboof on Twitter who graciously sent me signed copies of Nile River Woman, Long Train to the Redeeming Sin and flesh and the devil. Each copy with a different personalized note.
Listen to my rendering of her poem Now Playing from Every Little Bit Hurts (inside Nile River Woman).

Hurt People Hurt People

2009-08-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

We culturally are so influential,

at times inadvertently,

that we affect all

with the words we utter

and portray.

In a personal essay on the Huffington Post, fashion stylist Tameka Raymond ties colorism in the African American community to systemic racism.

The Chamber Brothers - So Tired

2009-08-14T01:39:00.000-07:00

Though this 1967 album is known for the psychedelic 11 minute “Time Has Come Today,” my favorite cut is Side A’s “So Tired.” Ripped directly from my vinyl, the wailing call and response of Lester Chambers and his brothers send me straight to Melancholy Fields.

“For I know I’ll never be free
but maybe she’ll come to me
with open arms
and say she
she belongs to me”

Le sigh. I can appreciate this lament of searching for the one.

Watch this 2005 Willie Chambers interview via Brother Mike.

Willie Chambers with Brother Mike

Willie Chambers discusses how Lightning Hopkins’s need for a conk introduced the brothers to the music industry.

Brother Chambers: We have a group.
Lightning Hopkins: What kind of group do you have?
Brother Chambers: We have a gospel group.
Lighting Hopkins: What’s that?
Brothers Chambers That’s music you sing in church!

Where are they now?
Brian Keenan passed in 1985.
George became a deacon.
Joe does session guitar work here and there.
Willie does guitar gigs here and there.

Lester still has that gospel funk. Try Evil Woman and Fried Neckbones & Some Home Fries from 2005’s It’s Time. Then move to I Got the Blues and Back to Mississippi Blues on his 2008 lp, Do You Believe in Rock and Roll?
Their website says they’ve reunited, yet sparsely decorated with a few pictures.

8 Black Women Medal of Freedom Recipients

2009-08-12T22:49:00.001-07:00

Marian Anderson, 1963
Ella Fitzgerald, 1981
Pearl Bailey, 1988
Dorothy Height, 1994
Barbara Jordan, 1994
Rosa Parks, 1996
Marian Wright Edelman, 2000
Aretha Franklin, 2005

Which 4 out of the 8 are singers? Let me know in the comments section.

For my Twitter followers, the answer is President Bill Clinton (recipients in bold).

Instant Deal

2009-08-09T01:31:00.001-07:00

I will start a new deal-saving feature on Sundays. Many of you know that I began radical couponing last June. I've shared my couponing process, but most of you say it involves too many steps. Week by week, I hope you will become interested in slashing your grocery and toiletry bills in half using deals and coupons. Below are some of my parameters:

Instant Deal will feature deals based on coupons in Sunday’s newspaper.

Instant gratification. Buy Sunday’s newspaper. Take out the insert. Cut the coupon. Off to the store.

Instant Deal will be a $5 item(s) or less.

We’re in a recession. No less eased by $800 billion given to corporate America. You deserve the savings.

Instant deals will usually be in CVS, Walgreens,or Target Stores (national).

Though Target is a fave, CVS and Walgreens have instant rebates (money in the hand!) that I’ll slowly introduce.

Instant Deals will be posted Saturday night (before 11:59 PST).

[Except this time] I’m working on being in alignment with God.

Instant Deals will be Twitter alerts. Follow me on the right -->