Sunday, October 29, 2006

wishes

i wish i'd never met you
never allowed the walls carefully crafted
around myself to crumble in pieces at your feet
allowed myself to care
i wish i'd never met you

the years it took to rebuild me
the effort put in to righting myself
the years now default because i met you and
i wish i never had

how easy it would be
if the reasons for the failure
were mine
i didn't share my life's work
my friends my family
how easy it would be if we'd never met the woman
who could not pronounce the letter s
as we moked and miled at the wonder
and
i still wish i'd never met you
cause sharing the part of me
that i wanted you and only you to see
from a perspective of sharing
components not to be compartmentalized
into bullshit
but that is what it was
bullshit
and you knew it all along
and while i thought i was building a friendship
i was actually tearing it down and
i wish i'd never met you

never traveled state to state
when i thought you wanted to know me
not just date
cause that's so so much deeper

i traverse the distance and measure out the time
i divide and add then subtract
it all equals to this fact
i wish i'd never met you
then my old haunts wouldn't haunt me
my memories wouldn't be in print
my hope for a friendship i valued
would might
may
could still be in tact
i long for the day that you glared at me
i retreated
but dejected girl scout that i am
when the chance came to meet you again......
i wish i'd never met you
if we had never met
because maybe
maybe
you would have actually
gotten to meet
me
but instead
i met you

Friday, October 27, 2006

relocation - reconnection

well, it seems cliterati will have a new home
and as i embrace new ways to change
i believe it is a good thing
cleanse our lenses
new perspectives
these women are amazing
and the fact that they allow me to hang out with them
the cherry on top
**********************************************
in another type of relocation
i have endured some shit
a lot of shit over the years
some roses have grown from some of the shit
other heaps just stink to high heaven
i've learned that the old way i used to think
may not work in the current climate
i meet a lot of people and the majority of them are genuine
but the ones i meet and
i give them genuine up front points
are fucking nuts
it's ok
i'm getting a slightly better gauge on things these days
i have to keep my own rules clearer
not stray from the plan
under 30 .... bad
except in the case of someone who has to remain nameless
funny been running from that one for more than a minute
and honestly believe i'd have been
happier if i had stopped running
as i keep running into this one again and again
and almost always on the tail of something
really fucked happening to me or around me
the original folks i hung out with in the beginning of this ride
were the most fucking honest
i have learned that i cannot tolerate dishonesty
the knee jerk reaction to smack wells up
and if i'm not quick
my hand or tongue starts flying
and the
i gives not a shit
attitude i've worked really hard to reshape
comes back with a vengeance
so i know where my base is
and i will be recommitting myself to them

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Black Girl Games

Growing up many a report card espoused on my academic prowess
Things like excellent reading skills
But seems board with the genres
Stellar speller, vocabulary years above her level
She does math differently but it comes out right
A gifted student
A talented child
Mature beyond her peers
But one comment loomed
Over me like storm clouds
Canceling recess
She doesn’t play well with others
Doesn’t interact with her female peers
She’s a bit of a tomboy
Not that everyday I didn’t play Hopscotch and Double Dutch
Till I could leap or jump to any rhythm
And throw stones with the accuracy of a politician
I played with the other little black girls
I just could never master black girl games
The under world of the play ground kingdoms

And I’m sure white girls have games
I imagine hair pulling and lots of scratching
But black girl games
Involve the taking of thing just because they can
I used to watch my cousins play the black girl game with their girlfriends
It fascinated me
My cousin would be all like
“He’s so fine; I’m going to make him mine”
Her friend, “please, he ain’t shit”
Next thing you know
Friend has absconded with the shit
And they never see it coming
Never watching the subtle signs
That blinked behind lying eyes
Those not hip to the black girl game open their mouths
And watch their dreams snatched by braded birds of prey
Repeatedly
Fascinating
Like watching an urban animal planet
Taking and twisting
Not cause they want it
Need it to survive
No just because you utter the words of want
And they don’t want you to have it
Boys
Not so much
The whole concept of the game was lost on them
Sometime I’d find myself
Impersonating Dear Abby
Boys would be like
You know Jimmy likes Sharon
I kind of like Sharon too
I’d say do you like having Jimmy as your friend
If you do don’t fuck with Sharon
They got it
I never had to witness classic fucking over with the boys
So I never developed the taste for black girl games
I have gotten sucked into a few
And clearly didn’t know the rules
I broke a few black girl noses
Chipped a few teeth
broke an arm, she jus tripped or something
tried to drown one in a toilet
the police stopped me right before they arrested me
Received and inflicted scars
That require stitches
Fucked up some minds so thoroughly
That the guilt will follow me to my next life
Pugilist with passion can’t play those types of games
So I’ve learned to walk away
Keeping my karma and integrity intact
Prison time and lawsuits at bay
Re educate my self on the signs
Then, go hang out with the boys

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Cliterati Octoberfest

Cliterati Octoberfest
~Cliterati will be on the 3rd and 4th Thursdays
This month!!

Cliterati becomes 6 years old in October! To celebrate, we're accomodating 3 very special features Oct. 19th & Oct. 26th
doors at 8pm, open mic at 8.30 $5 donation for the features
Please welcome to The Tower II. 735 Ralph Mcgill Blvd

OCTOBER 19th
SONYA RENEE
Sonya Renee

is a National Poetry Slam Champ, Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist

Activist, Teacher, Mom "Sonya Renee speaks for people on the margins and she does it by her own damn bootstraps. I admire her smarts, her sass, her lungpower and her willpower......young poets should be steered in her direction, and you yourself should sit right down for a hot minute. Watch this woman. Listen to this person. Sonya Renee will win you over!"~Rives, National Poetry Slam Champion, HBO Def Poetry Jam Tour

"Sonya Renee is the REAL DEAL. RAW, ORIGINAL, SENSITIVE. So many of her poems tell my story and maybe yours too. SHE'S SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL!"
~Gayle Danley, National Poet & Educator, 1994 National Individual Poetry Slam Champion, 2006 Young Audiences Artist of the Year

"She's a force of Nature on stage, often funny, and even when she's raging against injustice, there's always a wink in the corner of her eye.."
~Charles Ellik, Host and Curator of Berkeley Slam Norcal Poetry Organizer

AND
October 26th
The Coming Of Age Tour

The Coming of Age Tour, starring JT Bullock and Andi Cauth Oct. 26th Rolls into Cliterati! JT BULLOCK is a New Orleans native living in Birmingham, Alabama since 1998. His poetry runs the gauntlet from personal confessions to political protests. In his work as a spoken word artist, he experiments with the rhythmic styles of hip-hop, the brutal honesty of satirical comedy, and streams of consciousness found in surrealistic monologues. He is the author of one chapbook called Uncommon Days in Blues of Gray and a CD entitled I Can Sue Reality. In 2000, he joined the Birmingham Slam Team as an alternate at the Southern Fried Regionals in Americus, Georgia and has been rocking the mic ever since! Two years after his first competition, he came back to Southern Fried in Memphis as a member of Team Montevallo and scored a major victory as the ..1 team in the southeast. ANDI KAUTH began her career in Slam in 2004, when she was mentored by the creator of Slam himself, Marc Smith. Since then, she has gone on to become Slam Master of the Palatine Poetry Slam, Coach of the 2005 Palatine National Poetry Slam team, and a member of the 2006 Palatine NPS team. She mentors kids in the art of spoken word, and has also been invited into high school freshman English classes to help introduce writing and performance. She has been published twice in the Celebration of Young Poets poetry anthology and featured in The Viking Logue and The Daily Herald.


Related wordy events (click for samples & links):


Art Amok! will have an art party and poetry slam at 7 Stages Theatre in Little Five Points on October 21st, 9.30, Sonya Renee will have an encore feature performance.$5 or free to slam. The theme of the evening will be Artists, Angles and Madness to coincide with the 7 Stages production of Vincent & I.(Slam poems do not have to be on theme).See why Creative Loafing picked Art Amok as "Best Spoken Word" in Atlanta.

Charis Books & More, conveniently located in Little 5 Points hosts open poetry readings with fabulous author features on the first Friday of every month.

Java Monkey on Church Street, Decatur will kick off their slam poetry season Oct.8th at 8~get there early for your seat!
Visit sister sites www.artamok.org , www.7stages.org

Got more? E-mail cliterati@gmail.com. Thank you for supporting the Arts in the ATL!
http://www.cliterationline.com/

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

the pic things not working arrrrr!
i will figure it out.

Breathe

I keep forgetting to do that
breathe
it helps to do that every once in a while

last night was great
i was featured at a literary circle with jessica care moore as one of the young gifted and black poetic women of atlanta.
young.....that is some funny shit.
i'm not ancient..yet.....
the women have had very little exposure to performance poetry and had never heard of slam
they were very sweet and promised to come to a slam in the future
it was a nice night....i felt so young ...giggles....

i am on an emotional rollercoaster
it is soooooooooooo not fun
in a constant state of cloudy
i have to snap myself out of this
the grind begins wednesday and i am so excited
poetry and parties 2 parties 3 shows
if i don't have some fun
something is really wrong with me
i am also trying to arrange a second date
why is this scary to me now?

oh...i know why halloween is coming....
or it could be that i am a ginormous chicken shit
or it could be that i was hurt more than i realized
blindsided i think is more accurate
and the prospect of being hurt again scares me
but if i don't do something soon
i'll be stuck to wallowing in this hurt
time to do something
i need my mind back in full force
i don't like the wafting about
breathe

Saturday, October 07, 2006

so i get a call
i make up an excuse
and now i'm thinking an opportunity missed
cause i'm a chicken shit
and sitting home alone feeling lonely
is so much fucking fun
so tired of feeling like this
going to go prune my feathers
for i am a CHICKEN SHIT

spin cycle

i'm feeling like myself and somebody else at the same time
like the washing machine that runs great until the spin cycle
then it gets unbalanced
makes wicked noises
shakes and sputter
yep
just like that
only harder to explain
without the button that points out my spin cycle

last night at Charis was great
and someone was trying to be there
so glad for the no show
not feeling very respectful right now
would have been a use/lose situation
the goddess knows how crazed i am right now
so feeling quite unattractive
i went the the local dive fun as shit bar in east atlanta
nothing makes you feel better
than being used as a pole for an unscripted pole dance
where the dancer is quite fucked up
there was a dip backwards and then a flip
thank god for the couch
she flipped over it
skirt flitting slightly over her head
she bobbed to her feet
and bounced backwards sitting
perfectly on the couch
well, except for the fact that her skirt was
still kind of up around her arm pits
so, driving isn't the only thing you shouldn't do drunk
i tried to catch her
but the idea of being skewed by three inch heels
didn't appeal to me in that moment
besides the couch aerobics probably sobered her up a taste
all though once she composed her self
she righted her skirt and bought another drink
i'm too old for the club scene
but it never ceases to amuse me

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

She's an Idiot!



did you know that if you read Harry Potter you are being indoctrinated into a religion whose practices are evil?
see and here i thought you were just reading a fucking book.
see now that i know that that's all it takes to be indoctrinated into anything
i think i'll read a book on treating medical maladies
so that i can be indoctrinated into the medical profession
i don't have to just play a doctor on TV
i can be one cause i read a fucking book...
ooooo, i could read a book on psychology..
be indoctrinated into that profession
and figure our why my ex is a nut
and it'll be true
all my diagnoses because i read a fucking book
that gave me the power to know all....
wait to be indoctrinated into a practice that practices......
it sounds so logical
reading is is way more fundamental than i thought it was...
i could read a book about space and
be indoctrinated into NASA fly the fucking space shuttle
cause you know, i read a book...
oooooo
i read the entire constitution once
does that mean that i've been indoctrinated into a political system that practices the random fucking over of a people
and could i then run for president...cause i read it
it's not a book but i'm sure its in a book
and we all know that all it takes is to read something and you could be indoctrinated

laura mallory has way to much fucking time on her hands
she wants to remove the Harry Potter books from the school libraries
i think maybe a better idea is that she remove them from her library and stop being stupid in public
she doesn't want macbeth, a mid summers night dream, or the wizard of oz removed
fucking hypocrite
she hasn't even read the fucking books
how can you have an informed opinion
if you youself is uninformed
thank goddess she's not a teacher
let's hurry up and close those minds kiddies
we would hate to have to be free thinkers
you can't ban some without banning them all
stupidity and closed mindedness really get my goat
baaaaah

Saul, Indigo Girls and Me!!!

The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime
October 5th A Day of Nationwide Mass Resistance

Join Atlanta on October 5th along with 175+ places in the country
www.worldcantwait.org
Atlanta contact:

Email: Atlanta@worldcantwait.org 866-370-5404
******************************************************
Plans in Atlanta: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5

Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta, Peachtree St. and Edgewood ( 1 block north of 5 points MARTA station)
12:00pm Ride of Resistance to Drive Out the Bush Regime.
Meet up at Woodruff Park, the ride starts at 12:30. A critical mass style bike ride of resistance to Drive Out the Bush Regime through the streets of Atlanta. Ride returns back to Woodruff Park by 2:00pm.

2:00 p.m. Meet up in Woodruff Park.
2:30 p.m. we will have a spirited march thru downtown Atlanta.
4:00 p.m. we will return to Woodruff Park for a rally, speakers, poets, music.
5:30 p.m. we will stretch out along Peachtree Street.

******************************************************
At the Rally:

**SAUL WILLIAMS**
Writer, actor and poet that has served as the archetype for a new generation of poets and spoken word artists. He has performed, toured and lectured across the world. www.saulwilliams.com

Statement from the Indigo Girls

Patrick Bray-Iraq Veterans Against the War

Theresa Davis- Georgia poet (THAT'S ME!)

Godchild- Hip-Hop

Patricia Roberts-mother of 1st Georgia Soldier to die in Iraq

Denise Thomas-*Co-Founder Georgia Military Families Speak Out

Dr. Kenneth L. Samuel- Pastor of Victory Baptist Church

Lillie Mae Stokes-Katrina survivor

DJ Tonic

Solongo Productions Inc.- inspirational music for the soul from New Orleans

And others.

*identification purposes only

Bring your school, congregation, co-workers, friends, relatives, signs, banners, costumes, drums, whistles, creativity, outrage, and a determined spirit that won't stop. There is a place for everyone in this movement. Together let's make October 5th the way and the day to Drive Out the Bush Regime. Think Big, the future is counting on us.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Happy dance

I am on a program with SAUL WILLIAMS!!!
I am so freakin' happy!!!!!!!!
Is is a sign???