Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Assorted Pics @ The Inspired Word
Vanessa Hidary
Howard (Seraph) Treadwell
Timothy Prolific Jones
Marvin Mendlinger
Erik Advocate of Wordz Maldonado
Marron Cox (l), Adrian Wyatt (r)
Photos By: Peter Woloszyn
Mike Geffner
Poem: Jani Rose's Soñamos y Lucharemos
Soñamos y Lucharemos
we are
somos
soy
descendants of the hopeful and the practical whose
dreams tacked down the uneven path for who we are today
leaving all that they knew to follow a dream into the unknown
from barro to concrete
children of the the juanitas, marias y jaimes
left to stand in stead for their honor
crushed by an opportunistic system that then pointed at them
as an example of inferiority and cultural failure
we are
somos
soy
those who stomp statistics
break cycles
rework identity
live outloud
because we write
we write scrawling while blazing new paths
from the bx, to manhattan, to the bk, out into queens and alllllll the way to staten island,
we are more than enough
we are
somos
soy
the fruition of the hard work of the the piraguero, the frutero, the seamstress half blind yet peering into the future
told to give up while reaching out with yearning hands and hearts
lucharemos
hasta en la luna
we live out our dreams
no longer allowing ourselves to be seen as an invisible mass
allowing self love to wash away the doubt
taking 10 steps forward
each one taking position
using all of the best in us that our heritage has to offer
because we are all
soñamos
a renaissance is upon us
we live in a spirit of unity that pushes past all who come against us
we hold onto to one another
grab on tight in familial faith and love
raise each other up in the spirit of progress
y lucharemos
juntos
our voices harmonize
invincible
powered by the silent primal screams of our elders
we are those who rise up on behalf of those
who took 3 steps forward and were pushed 5 steps back
we dance 10 steps forward
we are the vanguard
with every generation separated from patria we lose words
but are blessed with a new identity
a language birthed in Nuyorico
shouted out into the world
y con eso
vamos pa'lante
sin pena
- Jani Rose
The Inspired Word in NYC/Thursday, July 1st - Claudia Alick, Osagyefo, Sal Treppiedi + Open Mic!
Mike Geffner presents The Inspired Word New York City poetry/spoken word event, featuring Claudia Alick, Osagyefo, Sal Treppiedi + 10-slot open mic!
When: Thursday, July 1
Where: One and One Bar & Restaurant (downstairs Nexus Lounge)
76 East 1st Street (corner of 1st Avenue)
Manhattan, NYC
http://www.oneandoneny.com/
Phone: (212) 598-9126
Time: 7pm (open mic sign-up starts at 6:30)
Cover Charge: $10
Must be 21 years of age or older. Please make sure to bring ID.
*****
Claudia Alick is a playwright, performance artist, actress, producer, teacher, journalist, and HBO Def Poetry poet. She produces the outdoor performance series "The Green Show" for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, has guest-lectured at New York University, Montgomery College, taught with Arena Stage and The Shakespeare Theatre, and was named by American Theater Magazine as one of 25 theater artists who will shape American Theater in the next 25 years. She has also served as the Artistic Director of Smokin' Word Productions, authored and directed plays staged at The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, LaMama E.T.C., Cherry Lane Theater, and the Hip Hop Theatre Festival, and is a member of the award winning NY Neofuturists. She lives in Ashland, Oregon.
Osagyefo is a Jamaican-born poet who never gives straight answers because he believes there are no straight answers in life. His words are filled with sound and power, the raw creative energy of the universe, as he "spits fiery rhymes,” Billboard once wrote of him. In other words, you don't just hear Osagyefo, you feel him. He has performed all over the world, from Africa to Jamaica, from Switzerland to England, and is the author of Psalms of Osagyefo…Chanting down Babylon. He was awarded the Zoo Award in 2002 for the best overall performer/reading for by the Farrago poetry society in London and currently resides in Brooklyn.
Sal Treppiedi is the author of two chapbooks: Random Thoughts of An Obese Mind (1998) and Tellin' Tales Out of School (2010). He was born in Brooklyn, NY, but currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico after a six year detour through Riverside, California. He has been an educator for almost 20 years, having spent the first 15 as a middle school English teacher and the last years as a high school activities director. Treppiedi is the founder of VE=NT (Voices Emerging=New Thunder), the annual New Mexico Middle School Poetry Slam. His work has appeared in several publications including Earthships: A New Mecca Poetry Collection, plus "Central Avenue," "Sage Trail" and "Lunarosity," an online journal. Treppiedi also headlined the recent Stepping Out Poetry Festival in Socorro, NM. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico (though his hometown is Brooklyn), is married to Deborah and has two daughters, Calle & Leah.
*****
The Inspired Word Blog: http://inspiredwordnyc.blogspot.com/
The Inspired Word on Twitter: http://twitter.com/InspiredWordNYC
The Inspired Word YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/NYCInspiredWord
*****
Mike Geffner
Founder/Producer
Marvin Mendlinger
Assistant Director
Erik "Advocate of Wordz" Maldonado
MC/Host
Marron Cox
Hostess Extraordinaire
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Poem: Ocean Vuong's Ode to Masturbation
Ode to Masturbation
Pearled semen trickles from vessel
as the silence of possibilities dries
on the floor and inside my palm.
Even now, as the body trembles
from the pleasure of its making,
somewhere, a plane
is pregnant with death.
When starlight sparkling
on the surface of falling bombs
and flames turn muscle
into pompous, skin into ash,
the sound of a scream in mid-death,
straining to push the weight
of last words, can you blame the hand
for craving the softest parts?
Reach down, there is music
in the body, play yourself
like a lyre, insert the finger
into sanctum, feel
the quivering of crevices, skin
palpitating ripples as if stretched
over drumbeats.
Reach down. Let explosions be muted
by climaxes, the Holy Water
between your thighs flow
into rivulets of cleansing,
let it rinse the soil of drying blood.
Reach down, there is music
in the cunt, the cock,
the asshole. Grab your balls—
that grenade of white flowers.
Reach down as fathers destroy the sons
and daughters of other fathers,
as faces emerge from wombs
and exiled into memory.
Reach down as a thousand I love you’s
fail to reach the man caressing
the trigger’s black tongue.
Because even now, in a city shimmering
from shards of broken halos,
we are not holy, only beautiful.
Because even now as I kneel to wipe
this cooling pool of sperm,
down the hall—a man
is beating madness into a child’s skull,
and not once will I ask
my unborn children
to forgive
this hand.
- Ocean Vuong
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Poem: Thomas Fucaloro's She wouldn't let me into her pants but she let me into her heart
She wouldn’t let me into her pants but she let me into her heart
To my upside down light bulb shaped girl
the only thing I understand is your lips.
They part a most beautiful sunrise.
The open morning motion of hands clasp
what time is always ticking about.
To my upside down light bulb shaped girl
we in trance a soft silent hum of breath
mounting
and we collide like children and glass doors.
You bring out this sap in me that trees don’t understand
yet embrace.
Leaves never forget.
They just fall.
My upside down light bulb shaped girl
I’d kill plants for you, smash a daisy,
stomp a patch of sunflowers
set fire to some roses
incinerate some petunias
whatever flower you want
dead shall die for our flower
sings anew.
Your hips shorelines amongst the waves
crash a most enchanted moon.
Our mushiness stands for no one but ourselves.
My upside down light bulb shaped girl
you’re a devil dressed in angel skin
and peel the right amount of dark
to reveal the right amount of light
and I inhale your back
exhales of the soul waking.
I’m not looking to marry you
I just want to hold your hand.
You were sculpted by e.e. cummings pen
and you’re just as confusing and just as radiant.
There’s nothing better than kissing someone who believes in you.
- Thomas Fucaloro
The Inspired Word - Thursday, June 24: Sean Patrick Conlon, Rico Frederick, Jani Bomba Rose + Open Mic!
Mike Geffner presents The Inspired Word, featuring Sean Patrick Conlon, Rico Frederick, Jani "Bomba" Rose plus a 10-slot open mic!
When: Thursday, June 24
Where: One and One Bar & Restaurant (downstairs Nexus Lounge)
76 East 1st Street (corner of 1st Avenue)
Manhattan, NYC
http://www.oneandoneny.com/
Phone: (212) 598-9126
Time: 7pm (open mic signup starts at 6:30)
Cover Charge: $10
Must be 21 years of age or older. Please make sure to bring ID.
*****
A talented writer and compelling performer born and raised in rural Virginia, Sean Patrick Conlon is a dedicated student of the page and a firm believer in the power of spoken word. As a poet, his constant devotion to both the craft of writing and live showmanship has fast earned him a reputation as being one of the hardest working and most original artists in the spoken word community today. He's the current Intangible Collective Grand Slam Champion and also the workshop coordinator for LouderARTS. To find out more about Sean, visit his site @ http://www.thevanishingman.com/.
Rico Frederick, a self-described "Trini farm boi'" turned graphic designer turned national slam poet, is the current Grand Slam Champion of LouderARTS as well as a three-time Nuyorican Grand Slam Finalist and three-time Urbana Grand Slam Finalist. He freely admits to loving Gummy Worms and pistachio ice cream.
Jani "Bomba" Rose is Nuyorican poet and performer born in Spanish Harlem and raised in the Bronx who began writing at the age of seven. She went from the public school system to an elite manhattan private school overnight where she developed a love for Plath and Method Man. She is an Acentos Fellow, the host of the Latina Empowerment series and founder of Poetry for the People and spends all of her time making stuff, reading, writing and taking care of her four sons.. To find out more, visit her site @ MusingsandScribbles.com.
*****
The Inspired Word Blog: http://inspiredwordnyc.blogspot.com/
The Inspired Word on Twitter: http://twitter.com/InspiredWordNYC
The Inspired Word YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/NYCInspiredWord
*****
Mike Geffner
Founder/Producer
Marvin Mendlinger
Assistant Director
Erik "Advocate of Wordz" Maldonado
MC/Host
Marron Cox
Hostess Extraordinaire
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Poem: Puma Perl's The Best Day of the Year
The Best Day of the Year
We hung out on the roof at Cha Cha’s
watching the Mermaid Parade.
“This is my favorite day of the year,”
said Danny, snapping pictures
with a camera recently lifted
from the trunk of a Buick.
They need Mambo Mermaids
I said, as Zombie Mermaids,
and Vampire Mermaids
sauntered by. He ignored me,
entranced by glittery pasties
and hundreds of tits.
I had met Danny at the Siren Festival.
You can be my Coney Island Baby
was the first thing he told me,
while the New York Dolls played.
We danced straight down Surf Avenue,
all the way to Seagate where he rented
a room from a bunch of rabbis.
We’d been together almost a year.
You don’t need calendars on the boardwalk,
time is measured by cyclone screams,
sideshows, and wooden horses,
by two shadows on the sand,
by memories of striped chairs,
and thunderbolt rides.
We climbed down the stairs.
Danny tried to steal an antique car
but nobody took him seriously.
Coney Island kids paraded in wigs
left behind by drunken mermaids,
who now littered the street,
pasties lost, and breasts drooping.
“This is the best day of the year,”
said Danny, as we drank warm beer
and headed towards the after- parties.
We were never invited, but it was the best
day of the year, and we weren’t worried
about a thing.
© puma perl, 4/13/09
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Mike Geffner & Friends @ The Inspired Word
w/ Jane LeCroy
w/ Marvin Mendlinger (l), Jon Sands (r)
w/ James "SoSoon" Gantt
w/ Big Mike Logan (l), Puma Perl (r)
The Inspired Word/Thursday, June 17 @ One and One Bar & Restaurant - Carlos Andrés Gómez, Sarah Kay, Ocean Vuong + open mic!
Mike Geffner presents The Inspired Word, featuring Carlos Andrés Gómez, Sarah Kay, Ocean Vuong, and a 10-slot open mic!
Where: One and One Bar & Restaurant (downstairs Nexus Lounge)
76 East 1st Street (corner of 1st Avenue)
Manhattan, NYC
http://www.oneandoneny.com/
Phone: (212) 598-9126
Time: 7pm (open mic signup starts at 6:30pm; ask for Adrian or Marvin)
Cover Charge: $10
Must be 21 years of age or older. Please make sure to bring ID.
*****
CARLOS ANDRÉS GÓMEZ is an actor, playwright, and poet from New York City. He is a Russell Simmons’ HBO Def Poet and the 2006 Toronto International Poetry Slam Champion. Named Artist of the Year at the 2009 Promoting Outstanding Writers Awards, he appears in Spike Lee’s #1 box office smash hit film “INSIDE MAN” with a lead role alongside Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, and Clive Owen. Over the past year, he's collaborated with Tony Award-winning tap dance legend Savion Glover on Broadway, represented the United States at the Poetry Africa International Festival in Durban, South Africa, and was a special guest performer at the MACY's Passport Fashion Show. For more info, please visit: http://www.carloslive.com/.
Sarah Kay is a Spoken Word Poet who grew up in New York City and began performing her poetry when she was only fourteen years old. Even though she was often the youngest poet by a decade, Sarah made herself at home at the Bowery Poetry Club, one of New York's most famous Spoken Word venues. In 2006, she joined the Bowery Poetry Club's Poetry Slam Team, NYC Urbana, and competed in the 2006 National Poetry Slam in Austin Texas. That year, she was the youngest poet competing at Nationals. Sarah was featured on the sixth season of the television series Russell Simmons presents HBO Def Poetry Jam, where she performed her poem "Hands." She has performed in venues across the country including Lincoln Center, the Tribeca Film Festival, and the United Nations, where she was a featured performer for the launch of the 2004 World Youth Report. She has performed side by side with Spoken Word superstars like Beau Sia, Taylor Mali, Buddy Wakefield, and many others. In 2004, Sarah founded Project V.O.I.C.E. to encourage teenagers toward creative self-expression through Spoken Word workshops. She has taught Spoken Word to students of all ages and most recently she has been teaching a weekly after-school spoken word class at Hope High School in Providence, Rhode Island.
Born in 1988 in Saigon, Vietnam, Ocean Vuong currently resides in New York City as an undergraduate student at Brooklyn College. His poems have received an Academy of American Poets award as well as two Pushcart Prize nominations. His work appears in Word Riot, the Kartika Review, Lantern Review, SOFTBLOW, Asia Literary Review, and PANK among others. He enjoys practicing Zen Meditation and is an avid supporter of animal rights.
*****
The Inspired Word Blog: http://inspiredwordnyc.blogspot.com/
The Inspired Word on Twitter: http://twitter.com/InspiredWordNYC
The Inspired Word YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/NYCInspiredWord
******
Mike Geffner
Founder/Producer
Marvin Mendlinger
Assistant Director
Erik "Advocate of Wordz" Maldonado
MC/Host
Adrian Wyatt
Open Mic Mistress
Marron Cox
Hostess Extraordinaire
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Pics - Jon Sands @ The Inspired Word
w/ Erik Maldonado
w/ Mike Geffner and Eliel Lucero
w/ Eliel Lucero
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
