Perform Poetry more regularly

both in October, plus the Underground Poetry event and the Refresh Rhyme Scheme event.

Busy and I think this pace is just right to fit in with everything else I am up to creatively.

I am going to mark this one done because it has become so much a part of my every day life…. which was the point of this goal in the first place.

at the Underground Gallery, but I was so uninspired personally I didn’t bring any original poetry, choosing instead to share Mary Oliver, Rumi and Billy Collins.

Next month.

I am starting to gear up for Burn the Witch, need to create a signature piece to perform.

At Refresh Rhyme Scheme (which appears to be moving from Sandrini’s) I am planning to perform Chocolate Words. Gives me some memorization to work on for now.

Your words dipped in chocolate – you
Coated my lips my mind my heart
With rich, true seeming sweetness

Yet now, 48 hours later your
Silence has fallen, a dungeon door closed
—I wonder, wonder, wonder did you
Mean those chocolatey words at all?

Just last night, 36 hours later,
I held your words, flaglike, devoted
—“These mean so much” until I felt
Your fingers, tangled in my hair you
dragged my face along the cold stony floor
—Ancient, bewildering
Chanted language not comprehended

Dank dungeon chamber
You sit on the granite frosted throne
Unspeaking, leaving clue echoes
– - outside the edge of my understanding
– - I don’t understand

I play on beaches
I play on canvas and pages
I play in lavendar gardens

Chocolate coating melts

Drips

Valentine castaways

My salty-faced chorus sings
“But I thought, I thought,
You were, you were, you were”

Until the bridge where the
soloist sings

“There was a glimmer
beyond the glower…
See it? See it?”

You left hints for me
The ever present
“No matter what happens”
Makes me think you
Must have strategically planned
To pull up the drawbridge all along
Leaving me alone, unknowing,
remote – balanced on skinned knees

(All right, I understand now)

I need light filled windows
Lots of them

Understanding. Compassion.
Free flowing, unfiltered words

Save the poison dipped, candy costumed arrows
for your next one

One good thing (or perhaps two)

You helped bring my poetry back
You helped me learn what not to do

a poetry night at the Underground Art Gallery beginning in the end of August. I am thinking it will be fun, but I need to begin promoting it in earnest so we will have a respectable turn out.

I used to host at Barnes and Noble, so I am familiar with how the process works. Crossing fingers it goes well.

This was such a fun night. I love performing but I also love hanging out with everyone…

I love the look on my face in this photo. The guy in the hat is named David and I had sent a text to folks reminding them of Spoken Word night and he texted back “You are my hero!” he tends to forget events and I tend to remind him… he was saying at our table how I seem to invite him to all the coolest things… so naturally I am his hero! LOL.

I have also been known to have a huge crush on the guy sitting next to me, the deep thinking, tall, dark, handsome and only 24 years old! Tino… we both read poetry about no-longer-available love and I won’t tell you where my mind went. LOL.

I tend to surprise myself…

The words, just so simply beautiful….

Now that I don’t have anymore rehearsals, I will be attending as many poetry events as my heart desires… and my schedule allows.

This week (as in tonight) is Russo’s. Last week, on Tuesday, was Refresh Rhyme Scheme which was a blast and then some.

Pretty soon I am going to hunt some performance venues on my own. Especially given the “who knows when” nature of getting back into theatre, I need to know when I can prepare, be on stage, do the whole performance thing.

I might not have space energetically (and in relationship to my family) to do any big productions in the theatre, but I could set aside more single evenings to perform my poetry.

I love this photo, ally…. oooop! Look at Joe’s face, so classic.

Stuff like this makes me blush… and then when I get over it I say…. “You know, she is absolutely right!”

Read the Review of Saturday’s Burn the Witch Performance here.

and I am choosing which poetry to share.

I have some new poems I will try out for the first time. I am looking so forward to that.

I want to cover a lot of ground – I have an hour and a half to perform. I want to fill it AND give space for art to be created as well, from art.

Art from Art. It is one of those trademarks of my performances, so it is not “all about my work” it is about heart and openness and allowing.

Sigh

So – what to do? We’ll figure it out.

Where I performed a piece I recently performed at the Betrayal art show. I had updated it a bit though and was happier with today’s outcome that the previous performance.

Just now I wrote my first poem in a long time. It might be just a beginning or it might say all that needs to be said.

Time to say goodbye
To turn the final page
Let the words I can not find
or say or write be felt
without being written
And know, its best sometimes
To simply
Say goodbye