To Albert

This poem was written around the twenty-fifth anniversary of Albert Einstein’s death.

 

For twenty-five years now

The seasons have past

Concrete caverns built

Zombie metal fish swim

Un-singing birds swiftly fly

Always filling with angels of death

Always hungry, always empty

The vacuum fills

It never will fill

For twenty-five years now

The seasons have past

And the dark angels

Have had no soul.

 

For twenty-five years now

Mestopheles

Has laughed at the passing seasons

Their power of eternal repetition, reproduction, change

He knows someday soon they will end

He will triumph

For the dark angels

Have lost their soul.

 

But you, your eyes now empty caverns

The warmth that filled now gone

For twenty-five years now

Even your eyes have lost their soul.

That fatal moment

When clouds of faustian desire

Turned to rainwater

And with your death

The water turned brackish

For the dark angels

Have no soul.

 

For twenty-five years now

We have been without a sun

And in the darkness

The dark angels are invisible

Soulless, substanceless

More real that the eternal trembling of time

Stronger than the trembling of time.

 

Poetry in Baltimore – 2nd Sundays – December 14th

This was my first time at Minas, it is a nice space for smaller readings.  This reading was a Benefit for Hearts Place Shelter, you can still donate just follow the link.  This reading is reviewed on the poetryinbaltimore forum so I will only mention what my personal favorites were.  I liked most of the open mic poets, my favorite were the two women who read together a poem that updates the Persephone myth.  I liked Miriam Botwinik reading which focused on childhood nostalgia.   I also liked Ron Williams performance poetry pieces.  

Overall there was a strong left-liberal political focus in the poetry.  I was okay with it until one of the featured poets pulled out a copy of the Revolutionary something or other and starting reading a piece of political polemic.

In the open mic I read Bad Speed Date and Bryce Remembered.

Art of Conversation – December 13th

There was a big crowd at the Art of Conversation.  It was standing room only for late arrivals.  Mo’ Optic was the featured poet.  I was really impressed with her poetry and delivery.  I especially liked the unique musical quality of her delivery.  Unfortunately she does not have a web site, or CD yet.  There is a CD on the way.  So you will have to be patient.

I got a very vivid reminder of the power of words when a poem that I read touched a raw nerve.  Unfortunately, it was not the nerve I was planning to touch.  I am not going to get into it here except to say that it is a cross-cultural poem that involves three cultures and there is certainly room to offend each of the three if done wrong.  So when I figure out how maintain the edge while still get folks to hear my point I will put it online.  But for now you can see the other poem I read Solstice.

There were a number of strong poems in the open mic.  The most interesting turn of the evening was an impromptu freestylin’ dual between that started at the end of the last poem.  The poem was by a male poet whose refrain is “when you gonna give me some ass”, needless to say it was not the most popular with some of the women.  Mo’ Optic took up the challenge and E stopped it after Mo’ scored a TKO.

Patricia Smith and Cave Canem Reading – December 7th

This was an incredible reading at the Pratt Library.  According to their web site “Cave Canem is committed to the discovery and cultivation of new voices in African American poetry.”  As the moderator, Reginald Harris, pointed out Cave Canem poets do not have a single style.  There was approximately 10 poets that each read for 5 minutes, unfortunately I do not have their names.  (There was no program for the reading.)  All I can say is that each was interesting and several were quite powerful.

The main event was Patricia Smith who is an established poet & slam champion.  This was her first reading where she exclusively read from her book “Blood Dazzler”.  This book is a collection of poems about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.  The reading like the poems was impressive.  Even reading her poems from behind a lecturn on a stage she was able to channel her poems.  In some poems the narrator is the Hurricane itself and in others it is the voices of its victims.  Her hurricane narration was quite chilling and her narration of the voices of the victims was convincing.

The only downside of this event to me was the turn out.  There was a decent number of people there, but given the number of people who were on stage the number should be higher.  I was impressed how few people in the local Spoken Word scene have heard of Patricia Smith.  I did not recognize one person at the reading.  I am not blaming anyone, but I wish that the poetry world was less fragmented. 

If you are interested in seeing Patricia Smith without journeying far away or going back in time look on the web.  She has a number of pieces on Youtube and also on Borders Open Book Poetry.

The Art of Conversation – December 6th

Big crowd at The Art of Conversation last Saturday night.  Omekongo Dibinga was featured.  I liked his world-wide focus, his inclusivity and his strong delivery.  He had poems on how Africa is portrayed in the media, the situation in the Congo and on poets on ego trips.  A lot of people read / performed.  Among other highlights several strong poems about women overcoming domestic violence.  A young woman who is a Senior at Hopkins sang, she has a great voice and her own style.

I read Bryce Remembered.

A New Word

A new word

a turning of the page

so empty

in anticipation

of being fullfilled.