Sunday, February 28, 2010
Spring Gathering for Nps Poets
Thursday, February 25, 2010
A Synchronistic Gathering of Poets
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
After Poetry Night on 02/23/2010...
Magic, Synchronicity, Power, Historical Significance, Grace, Love, Beauty, Timing, and Purpose have united and set off the Quantum Fire.
"The New Renaissance is here, all poets congregate by the Force. Peace is the Tao, the Spoken Word is the instrument. I lead the Way. -Priya Lin"
February Twenty-third, Two thousand and ten
"Poets are my preachers/and church is an open-mic."
Look at the time! See everyone next week........I hope you all found joy in this long-winded post.
Best,
barrett
(http://nyquilchug.blogspot.com)
Monday, February 22, 2010
02/16/2010 - Feb. Contest - 17 readers
The night started off with a 'Collection of Fever Dreams'
by our recently relocated friend,
Ty Cummings, read by his younger brother Travis.
My favorite:
"The distance between us shattered like broken flower pots, &
we lay in the soil reaching for eachother."
We built along, both Q and Naja delivering powerful performances
after relating some Black History Month facts, as they have all month.
Spirit showed up with notebooks and conveyed a different side of himself,
lucid and somber in opposition to the freely erratic and emotional side
normally displayed by his improvisation.
As everyone should be aware, we held our Feb. Contest last week.
The 8 contestants:
John D Ellis
Dusty T
Priya
Cole Amick
M.K.
Scott Mayo
AlexB
John Ellis won
11 votes out of 22 with
"To Understand and To Be Understood, let's not get this confused."
-J.D.E. (2010)
kumbaya, my lord, kumbaya
kumbaya, my lord, kumbaya
kumbaya, my lord, kumbaya
o lord, kumbaya
we hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable duties,
that among these are to understand
and to be understood.
yes, to understand
and to be understood
these are the two inherent responsibilities
bequeathed to us by our fatherless forefathers
to understand
and to be understood,
these are the hopes and dreams
of man and man alike
to understand
and to be understood,
these are the debts that are owed
of the people, by the people, for the people
to understand
and to be understood
this is the burden placed upon us,
the children of maize, of tortoise's back, of clay and mud.
so, do not confuse this.
do not confuse this as
the rhetorical inbreeding of misguided attempts
to subjugate others by the good ol' boys that
were raised by the trailer park code of hammurabi
no, this is not "I for I" but "I owe you"
not to be confused with reparations,
for i never wished nothing bad on no one
and the only money I have,
has been invested in bonds;
bonds between my brothers and sisters
(can i get a) hallelujah, amen!
but do not mistake these bonds for chains,
for i would never trade my kin to become
freedom's whipping boy, no,
do not misunderstand me,
this message is not so black and white,
but i hope to understand and to be understood.
so kumbaya, and gather 'round
we shall beat a new drum,
a drum of revolution
beat the rodney king drums no longer
beat the reginald denny drums no longer
beat the tasha hill drums no longer
beat the james chaney, andrew goodman, and michael schwerner drums no longer
beat the drum of compassion
beat the drum of knowledge
beat the drum of liberation
beat the drum of truth
beat the drum of equality and virtue
beat the drum of your heart
beat the drum of your mind
beat the drum of art, of poetry
to understand and to be understood.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Updates/News by Dustin.
Great poetry last week... I enjoyed it myself, I must say.
Davis St. Blues
Front 'n' Center
rustic vocals
a low barbeque fog fermenting
an' kickin' up as ee plays
Me tappin' keys
acquiesce to banality
as filigrees drift through
cigarette smoke blinds
mixing steam emanating
bore rain-water coffee
Tuesday afternoon always feels like morning
Jazzy'z noted denote the moaning
bucking typewriter clanks through the droning
of another cool fall mourning
blues hanging twixt
autumn orange brown leaves
and dropping.
We extoll
Jazzy 'n' I
as yet another sad letter
forms filigrees then floats
on the bellow of an old song with a whiskey tan
and tangential traffic swooshes
drowned in drawling deference.
"Damn Blues camn an' gotme again.."
He sings for eyes
a sight for a dime to may be paid
"Gotta make it through
these god-damn Davis St. Blues
another autumn another day."
Jazzy could play pulled pork out of his pocket,
and if it's pullin' pay from your's,
the shade of his day could change
but it's gray like cooking skin smog
like that empty restaurant
2 blocks down Davis
"Just another day, another fate for old songs
and their blue singers.
Jazzy don't even know,
we've been writing the same verse
over and over again
only to find
the world
a little less impressed by our accomplishments
a little more
by our failures."
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
For NPS: See you all Tonight!
In search of a gathering
Somewhere in the jungle and tugged amongst the trees
Where you will find only the most sincere seekers
Of the mystics in themselves
Those that embarked on such trails
Trails of Bliss
Of hidden paths
Of ecstatic joy and abundance
Every step along the way...
(to be continued, this legend we call NPS)
See you all tonight!
-Priya Lin
Friday, February 5, 2010
2 February 2010 - Poetry Night/Contest Announcements
As my first post, and the first post for NPS in the new year, I would like to say that Poetry Night has been a wonderful and illuminating experience. That being said, this night was every bit as wonderful and illuminating. The revolving door that has been NPS over the past couple weeks welcomed back Q and Naja, as well as Iceiss and two new readers, Kent and Rylan. We had a total of 13 readers, and essentially everything that I am trying to say about this night can be best captured in what I would call the quote of the night (maybe even the decade). It was spoken by one of our new readers, Kent, and I hope he won't mind me including it here.
Without further adieu, the quote of the night-
Now on to the contest rules for Tuesday, February 9th, 2010.
The rules are very simple. Write a poem about an aspect of February. Any aspect at all.
The poem could be related, but not limited to:
- Black History Month
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month
- Valentine's Day
The stakes are high, so start writing.
Wishing NPS continued growth and success,
John Ellis
pics by priya:
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Poem for Trevor
“Raconte-Moi” (Tell Me)
~a service piece, serving one of the NPS stars, Trevor, this poem comes to me when I listen to one of my favorite French songs
Tell me
Your life stories
Your unseen sorrow
Your dreams and despairs that only you and your buddies know
And perhaps
None of your buddies know
It’s still hidden quietly
At the secret garden of your innocence
Those who can enter
They bring you a rose
A miracle of love
Wise and young
Old and innocent
Cherished and adored
Kind and forever sweet
Your nature shines like the sun
Dimming the light
I saw the man you are meant to become
Even if the light is still dim
Around you
And it seems to be a bit too dim
For the star dusts that you carry in your pockets
It’s just a note
That you picked it up one day after a long day
It says
I know you
The magnificent child and the man to be
There is one thing more you need to know
And I am going to whisper this to the Universe
My beloved
Your essence is non-stoppable
The timeless piece that is You
Those of us who cherishes who you are
Will hold it gently in our hands
Nurturing every cell of yours
Until one day
Your truth comes
Majesty is your last name
Forget Not
-Priya Lin