I have been asked to read at one of Litquake’s Lit Crawl events in October!
Yeah, I still get excited about readings and always consider it an honor when ever I am asked to share poems at an event. Call me young and idealistic like dat.
More info at the Litquake website.
Poetry Mission Thursdays @DALVA
3121 16th Street, near Valencia
WE’RE IN THE BACK ROOM!
7p — 9p
Open Mic * Poetry Feature * Open Mic * Musical Feature
July 26th Feature: Oscar Bermeo
hosted by Adam Wolf
21 and over w/ID only!
no cover, one drink minimum
donations accepted
door prizes!
second and fourth Thursdays of each month
GET THERE:
14 Mission
22 Fillmore
26 Valencia
33 Stanyan
49 Mission – Van Ness
53 Southern Heights
16th and Mission BART
questions?
www.myspace.com/poetrymission
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If your best poetry reading comes when you are nervous, then I may have had my greatest reading ever because I can not remember ever being so shook.
I can’t say why exactly. I got to the reading in plenty of time, I knew when I was going to read in the lineup and I felt as confident as I could with new work. But it wasn;t brand new off the page work, it was stuff I was going through on second and third rewrites which may be the toughest work to read. You know you got some more places to reach in the poem (or maybe you’ve reached in too much) and you’re feeling close to another breakthrough in the poem. Hell, you may even get to the finish line with it!
But, not yet. You still need for one more thing to happen. Me, I try to find some of those breaks in my voice, try to listen when the poem says ‘soft’ or when it just wants to runaway into a freight train.
Of course, this would be much easier if the audience could actually tell me if the turns are happening the same way I see them happening on the page but all I can do is go by some kind of radar sense that lets me know when it does (and more often than I would like to admit- doesn’t) fall into place.
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SET LIST
-Buildings Leaning On Each Other
-Section Four
-Villanelle written around the lyrics of Afrikka Bambaattaa and the Soul Sonic Force
-Anywhere Avenue Haiku
-Ode To A Stitched Mouth
All form, all the time!
Buildings is the latest incarnation of the myth poem I read at VONA. This is shaping up to be quite the lyric poem thanks to Barb’s suggestion of using a popular 60s song as a backdrop.
Section Four is a collage poem about Orchard Beach.
Villanelle written around the lyrics of Afrikka Bambaattaa and the Soul Sonic Force. Lyrics used: Looking for the Perfect Beat
Anywhere Avenue Haiku. I tend to shy away from haiku since nature doesn’t make its way into most of work. Yes, I am that kind of purist who wants to see nature in every haiku. With that said, I flipped the script and used some urban nature; in this case, the inner city babbling brook: the open fire hydrant.
Ode To A Stitched Mouth details a semi-autobiographical run-in with a whiteboy who makes fun of my English. I really wasn’t sure how this would come out and if folks would get it. Would they take this as the poetic retelling of a specific incident or mistake it as a blanket accusation where I am the voice of marginalized? I didn’t get to poll anyone afterwards but I can tell ya it came out in my natural voice and it got some great response from the room. Poem stills need more work, though. ;-)
Now, not only was my voice trembling during the first four poems, bantered way too much and could feel my leg shaking really hard but I was still nervous after the last poem! I was so out of it that I walked right past my seat, and then (for fear that I would make a jackass of mahself) I kept going all the way to the back of the room where I asked for some water and then took two minutes to finally calm down.
Luckily, no one else seemed to notice and I got some good feedback from folks so it’s all good in da hood.
My fellow IWL writers were all on and had me twisting in all kinds of directions with their work. Big props to Debbie Yee, who also came with all new poems and kept her reading 99% intro free ;-) ; Carlo Sciammas, whose language and storytelling is best described in Spanish: sencillo (unadorned, sincere, without pretense, direct, child-like but never childish); the moving soon to SoCal Maile Arvin, whose writing is always a welcome invite; the rockabilly all star known as Nicole Bohn; writing partner, world traveler & future lawyer Lata Nott and all my IWL mates.
A big shout out as well to Octavio Solis (who read with us and is included in the anthology) and all the rest of the workshop facilitators.
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Photos Courtesy of Jay Jao
12 Ways Highlights
12 Ways Photo Gallery
Play In The Margins Press presents
Story Circle
official book launch for Raphael Cohen’s Scrutinizing Lines
a poetry in the round reading and performance
featuring special guest poets, including
Oscar Bermeo
Kusum Crimmel
Ariel Luckey
Aimee Suzara
Thursday, June 28, 2007
La Peña Cultural Center
3105 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, California
Doors at 7
Show at 8
$10 (no one turned away for lack of funds)
first 25 guests receive a complimentary copy of Scrutinizing Lines
Raphael Cohen is a writer and performer currently living in Oakland, California. Committed to utilizing the word as a vehicle for personal and social transformation, Raphael’s poetry and prose critically examine the multifaceted nature of oppression, explore and expose the hidden costs of privilege, and vibrantly inspire efforts toward self-actualization. Through his art, he hopes to propose liberating alternatives to the often incapacitating impact of dominant narratives on our psyches and spirits. A storyteller at heart, Raphael has shared his work in New York, Montreal, Toronto, and throughout the Bay area. He’s just released his first full-length collection of poetry, Scrutinizing Lines, and with it, has founded Play In The Margins press, an independent publishing project and event production company dedicated to promoting the work of local writers and performers intent on social change.
Come on out and help celebrate the release of Scrutinizing Lines
a lyrical exploration of …
race and class politics in the u.s.
jewish identity, history, and resistance to oppression
the pursuit of lasting love
Scrutinizing Lines is currently available at the following independent book and arts establishments …
Walden Pond Books (Oakland)
Rock Paper Scissors Collective (Oakland)
Book Zoo (Oakland)
Modern Times Books (San Francisco)
Dog Eared Books (San Francisco)
Pegasus Books (Berkeley)
Blue Stockings Bookstore (New York)
St. Mark’s Bookshop (New York)
Bowery Poetry Club (New York)
But come to the show, and pick up a copy that includes a freshly printed audio CD to accompany the text (currently unavailable at the aforementioned bookstores).
Mil gracias to Craig, Jen & Len of Achiote Press for giving me the chance to read alongside my wife, finally meet and hear the dope work of Bec, having Ver share with me the tale of the Tongans and to contribute to the next Achiote Seeds. Let’s just say that there is no shortage of inspiration right now and I couldn’t be happier with life and my poetry.
SET LIST
– Dawn En Nueva Yo
– Menagerie
– After Working The Late Shift Again, A Young Boricua On Times Square
Composes a Response To a White Co-Worker Concerning The Myth of Racism
– My Father, A Cabdriver, Chimes In With A Few Words of His Own on The
Myth of Racism as He Drives by Times Square
– Being Don Quixote by Rich Villar
– an atlas of nationalism
– Sonnet for the Lexington Avenue Express—Mt Eden Ave Stop
– Dedication
Extra Notes
Dawn is composed of lines from Poeta En San Francisco (you can see a first draft here. At the time I posted it I didn’t think it would become a poem but asi es la vida.)
Menagerie is gonna work its way back into my readings.
Since Rich couldn’t be in the Bay, I decided to bring some of his special wepa-ness to the mix. Barbara also read a few of his pieces as well.
This reading also marks the first time I read out of my new self-produced chapbook “Anywhere Avenue†which you will be hearing more about shortly.
Palabra.
