Thursday night poetry feature
Sail
You are happiness
You are love
You are you
Just looking for someone to love every shipwreck shard you are
You castaway
treasure everyone believes exist
You X on the map of a pirate that has been raised to see shine before value
A voyage When a bandit forgets his worth
You are the search
Worth Spending a life time on
All the sea any vessel needs to stay afloat
This is to you
Find what makes you golden
Then sail home
Before anyone asks to share the wealth you were born with…..
I feel like the water rising
the sun is full but slowly dying
float on
Girl float on
Float on
let the tide take you home -Jamarr hall
This is a day spent well with my little homie.
This is a video of me performing my Little Richard poem. Check it out
This is the video of my Little Richard poem. I performed this piece at Brave New Voices open mic this past week :-)
My brother carvens #2012
Brave New Voices Blog #1
As I watch the Philly team practice for the moment they defend their crown onstage, I can feel the spirit of the Brave New Voices festival tingling in my skin. This spirit is full of excitement pulsing in the air, creating a live wire that courses through every poet and makes us happy, and eager to share our gifts with each other.
Everyone here is some kind of wonderful; beautiful brown, beige, yellow, and cream colored poets bursting with so much energy, light and love for poetry. I love meeting new people. First I gaze for an interesting looking person. Maybe it’s the way they wear their hair, the African prints or scarves they wear but trust me, they aren’t hard to find because all around me are diverse artistic people. I’ll then ask what team are they from and later their name because it’s easier to remember that way. So far I’ve talked to poets from Atlanta, Miami, Bermuda, Cleveland, Stockton, Madison and so much more.
Rap battles and singing cyphers are randomly created yet openly invited by everyone. I’m the watcher type. I enjoy observing and listening to the rhymes freely fall from lips without strict prose or frame.
Yesterday we’ve participated in various poetry workshops taught by incredibly talented poets. The first session I attended was taught by Robbie Q. Telfer. It was a great opener, because as someone who hasn’t written been avoiding poetry for a while, I loved the relaxed atmosphere. Often times when I write, I think of the reactions that others will have and I write for that instead of writing for me.
During a break between workshop sessions, one girl told me that she slams for validation. I can relate to her. Sometimes when you’re onstage and the snaps are igniting the air, your voice is flowing smoother than silk and the crowd is hanging on every syllable you spit, you feel like a God more so than in the moment of writing it or in the moment that inspired the piece. It’s easy to fall in love with that feeling and crave the intoxicating sensation it gives you instead of writing to be true to you. At the BNV festival, I’m unlearning how to write for the audience and instead for myself and to be honest to who I am. I look forward to meeting even more people and delving deeper into my writing skills while allowing myself to to be open for growth. Stay tuned for more on my BNV 2012 experience.
Written by Gina Dukes
