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“Every other day of the week is fine”

For all of y’all it’s Monday but for me it’s Tuesday, I arrive at work today to discover the roofing project has taken a real bad turn and we have three floors with water damage. Nice! All that and I have to get the kids ready for a performance this Saturday.

It’s going to work out for the best (Oh! The cry of the optimist!) as I love being here and the work that we are doing is very necessary for the community. Mind-Builders gives kids violin lessons for $12 a lesson! And this is from a 20 year veteran who has performed all over the world. Man, you can;t beat that with a bat.

The other great thing about teaching is that it keeps me in a good creative mood and has me writing about stuff I never would have imagined. When we started the year we wanted to come up with a list of expectations from the teachers and from themselves. The phrase we came up with- “We all want to get paid but how do we want to get paid back?” The question keeps popping up in class and this is what resulted.

(Any and all thoughts are welcome in the comment section)

“Decorate the house with lights at night”

The first big snow fall of the year is here and I hearken back to the last big snow fall, March of this year. The weather experts promised mad inches and all we got was a light fluff. Important to note because it killed the crowd for what was an awesome night at 13 where a bunch of us had a chance to be recorded for, what was then a rumored project, of Norman Lear’s. With the lights on and the tape running most of the poets went with newer less “audience friendly” work and we had a blast for the 30 or so that showed up.

The last really big snow fall in January saw me troop it out in the Honda (r.i.p.) and spend part of the day chilling and part of it putting together the final touches to the blog design you see now. I remember how perfect this city can be at times like this with everybody indoors, the streets blanketed alabaster, and the shine of lamppost reflecting off the perfect snow. In two days, it will become slush city and then the city will have a more familiar facade- dark and unpure. Maybe it’s the tell-me-what-to-do-and-I’ll-probably-do-the-opposite-mentality, when it’s nice and people are out picnicing, I prefer to chill on my own and hit the AC of a Barnes and Noble (not buying shit, just using what I like to refer to as my own lil library).

Tonight, with every advisory on TV saying “Don’t do it!” Ima head over to the Spaceship Casita and chill away. Perhaps a snowball fight will emerge or maybe we can throw bags of waters on unsuspecting passerbys… who knows?

This was originally supposed to be a gathering of the gentleman of louderARTS but is slowly expanding to a nicer more exoteric circle which may eventually allow for some voices that I don’t always agree with but what’s new? Methinks that the attendance will be low so it will probably not go into the unofficial log of minutes as an actual quorum but I like to think of it like church and God, if me and God are talking, seriously talking, then I am in Church and you gotta give me a minute before I get back to you.

This just in from Rich (via the Weather Channel)…

ANY TRAVEL IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED. IF YOU LEAVE THE SAFETY OF BEING INDOORS, YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR LIFE AT RISK.

Forecaster, please! It’s like as if this shit doesn’t happen in the rest of the world, all the time. Siegel has probably seen more snow in April up in Buffalo!

Real big riff! Weather Forecasters. These muthafuckas are about as useful as locker room relationship advise. Everybody is a fuckin’ expert until there advice falls flat, then it turns into the Iran-Contra hearings.

“I don’t recall saying that.”

“I believe I was referring to a hypothetical situation.”

When it snows, as they predicted, it turns into a giant alert which always starts with “As first reported by…” You aint reporting shit!

You are either

a) figuring out that if it started in DC and the wind is coming North, its gonna hit here

b) going with the statiscal odds of meteorological indicators

and it’s a straight crap shoot cuz if the wind changes, then we are in the clear and if the magic of nature turns all the odds against you then we get this “A surprise storm…”

or even better, “We really got lucky…”

(Morton Downey, Jr mode- off)

Looking forward to a great night because there is always a good story that comes out of circumstances like this and that’s really what I live for… a good story.

7even Questions

The Poet- Toro is a poet and an educator. You may not be that familiar with his work because he prefers to teach and create rather than hang at a lot of Open Mics. Too bad for both sides because the scene could use some of the fresh energy he brings to both his poetry and any room he’s hanging out in.

o.b.: As an educator, what is the most valuable thing you have learned from your students?

Toro: Patience. And that I’m really not that cool. And more patience. NOW GET ON WITH THE NEXT DAMN QUESTION!

o.b.: You teach Slam poetry (in a sense) yet you make it a point not to be classified as a “Slam Poet,” how does that dichotomy work for you?

Toro: “Slam” is just a marketing slogan used to sell a product. Like all marketing slogans, its sole purpose is to place an idea/object into a box that is simplified and easy to consume. As an artist, I am always uneasy when someone wants to place my work into such a box. These categories limit the artist as well as the audience. When I was younger and people were telling me that I was a “slam” poet, I found myself trying to write “Slam” pieces, which stunted my growth for some time.

My teaching “Slam” poetry is purely an irony of situation. When I began working as a teaching artist, my company, Dreamyard, had been given a large sum of money to teach “slam” poetry and hold interschool

slams in the Bronx. My feeling is that if some suits in an office are willing to give some of their blood money for me to work with the children and their minds are trained to be engaged by campaign slogans, such as “Slam”, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ll call it Clown poetry if they want me to, so long as the money is going to the education of these young people. In this way there is no dichotomy at all.

o.b.: Have you had an opportunity to meet any of your poetic influences? How was the experience?

Toro: The first time I ever read my poetry to a large audience was in the home of Reverendo Pedro

Pietri. When I was 14, my cousin Carmen gave me a copy of PUERTO RICAN OBITUARY, and it was the book that inspired me to become a poet. I didn’t know then that my cousin was friends with Pedro. We went there for New Year’s when I was 16, and after all these astounding writers like Ntozake Shange and Papoleto Melendez perform, Pedro and my cousin invited me up to read one of my poems. It was terrifying, and at the same time it was in many ways the birth of my life as an artist. I have since had the pleasure of reading with Pedro and spending a little time here and there. He has always been supportive even though after ten years he still always forgets my name (TO him, my name is just “Carmen’s cousin”). He brings light everywhere he goes. He is a true people’s poet.

o.b.: What part of the world is most poetic and why?

Toro: The only part of the world that has not been colonized, the independent nation without a name or borders, only known affectionately as “the imagiNATION.” You can find its refugees inside little crevices all over the world. The evil empire wants to know where they are hiding but we won’t ever tell, never!

o.b.: “I don’t remember who said it but one time, I heard this poem that blew my mind. It spoke of…”

Toro: being polite. Only I remember who said it. Hafiz wrote:

Everyone is god speaking.

Why not be polite and listen to him?

o.b.: When did you drop your first poem and how much have you changed since then?

Toro: I dropped my first poem all over the kitchen floor when I was two. My mother was trying to spoon-feed it to me, but I just didn’t like the peaches. I still don’t like peaches. As in the words of one of the great Bodhisattvas, “I changed by not changing at all.” I drop a lot of things. Last week I dropped a glass of red wine all over myself at a very Bourgeois and stuffy poetry reading. The glass smashed on the table just as the poet was using the word “tentacle” (A very played out poetry word). All the self-important MFA students snorted at me, wondering who let me in, while I laughed with my outfit permanently stained. The whole experience was very poetic and enlightening.

o.b.: Which was your preferred choice for two-tone jeans- Sergio Valente’s or AJ’s?

Toro: Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in America” is a Cinematic Masterpiece!

To quote the poet Nicanor Parra, “I hereby retract everything I just said!”

“stick to the stars”

Nothing to write about really. I have been tempering my hate lately so my thoughts on some of the poetry around me have been tepid to say the least. Shit! I even actually went head long into a ride that this Slammer by the name of Big Mike (not R.N. Thank God!) took me on last Friday. Crazy motherfucker was talking about writing a real love poem, not the kind that single poets write, and then mentioned that his six month old son is the biggest cock blocker on the planet. That is some surreal shit that will haunt me. The same slam saw Rich rock “Noche Buena, 1986” better than I have ever seen him do it before as well and score the hosting duties to the Nuyorican Open Room. A fine feather to add to any poetic resume.

The featured poet was David Mills who not only managed to work in an anus reference into seven of the six poems he did but also managed to demean Aztec culture by turning ‘Monetzuma’s Revenge’ into a poem- “Dear Ah Rear Ah” (parts 1, 2, and 3) and mispronouncing the way the locals say English words. Nice. No applause necessary, though.

Last night was another dialougueSLAM and the use of score cards kept the score creep from getting out of hand but also cemented the judges idea of who should and shouldn’t win (at least that is what I’m gathering from the two times that we have used the score cards). the dialougueSLAM, for the unitiated, adds a topic to the Slam and we advise the judges to score low if the poet goes off-topic. Last nights topic- Love Succeeding. Great side effect is that it produced some great work and even if the poets goes to the well, at least it’s a shallow well. Speaking of which, I ended up sac-goating at the last second when Jayme backed out on me, and went with my own love poem “Ceviche” and though I tried to go over time and did everything I could to get a low score, I still managed to stay under three AND scored better than 9 of the 10 first rounders. Of course, this wonderful fact will NOT repeat itself should I actually Slam.

The end of the year is approaching for Slam and I am close to throwing down again. Last time around, I went second in a Slam that was all score creep all the time with a very unpolished piece and went down in a blaze of mediocrity. Honestly, I have suffered more when my coffee has cream instead of milk (for real! I take my café very serious!) and it was just another chance to try something different. Now, I am caught up in the debate of the Poetry_Slam listserve and look at the thoughts of Keith Roach… laughing his ass off as muthafuckahs wonder why the best poets never win and Keith figuring out that if you think the best poet always wins a three round Slam… then you deserve all the angst you get.

I’ve been trying to figure out how to change the Slam’s old format and skew it so that it focuses more attention on writing…. there are a couple of ideas but they all eliminate the possibility of putting the paddles in the hands of five neophytes. Radical? Yeah… but the wheel which is Slam is busted if it’s trying to raise the standard of art. Don’t believe me? Try explaining it to someone that loves art but knows nothing of performance poetry. They will laugh right at your mug.

I look at a ton of poet’s bios and know of a whole bunch that have been to Nationals and, save for the winners, don’t bother putting it down. Factor in that some awards carry enough prestige that you can list yourself as a nominee and ride the wave… then what does that say about Nats?

When I look and see some winners of Slam titles not list said victories in their professional resumes… what does that say about Slam?

“now is the time for me to rise”

the place- the blue ox bar

the event- acentos

the occasion- fish’s feature

the challenge- as co-founder, you have to live up to the following A class performances from the following list of poets-

guy lecharles gonzalez, edward garcia, sabrina hayeem ladani, grisel, emanuel xavier, michele kotler, bonafide rojas, toro, cheryl boyce taylor, anacaona, louis reyes rivera, karen jaime, jorge monterossa, raymond daniel medina, willie perdomo, and mahina movement.

as of yet, no one has dropped the ball. no one! even ana, who only did one piece came through in a condition that a doctor would not have approved of. ed performed in 100+ fever. jorge rocked out 18 poems. guy had his first ever reading in his beloved bX. grisel sang a broadway number. michele brought the teaching artists of community~word (rachelle street, lisa ascalon, marina wilson & aracelis girmay). wiliie was willie. and louis reyes is the griot.

the extra challenge- invite every body you care bout from all realms of your being and lay it all on the line

the play by play- it was a welcome night off from hosting action. guy is probably THE best host i have ever seen and i love seeing him go through the motions. maya azucena kicked it off and it was cool to have things start off on that kinda note. (now that i think about it– a lot of musical acts have dropped by the ox… wonder why?) the open mic was at its usual high levels and it was nice seeing a few folks drop by, specifically eric g. his poetry always rocks my world and i was happy to hear em read.

our bartender tina went from the penthouse to the outhouse with her jabbering and bantering. one cat that i tried cutting out of the open mic for time purposes makes a big fuss about why the earth can not continue with out his words. (why? why? its not them asking and/or riffing that bothers me… it’s the fact that they never can do it softly and i give in most of the time just so that the current reader doesnt get interrupted) juan did a poem that deals with a deeper issue but he went for the straight comedy and lost almost all of his point.

the main event- in a word, awesome. a real conspiracy of the stars to achieve an event singular in magnitude. definitely one of the best sets i have ever seen from anyone and a real show of range and personal perspective.

the aftermath- another tuesday in the books. sounds pretty simple and straight forward but that’s what i have gotten used to.

who knows? maybe it’s the fact that people aren’t used to coming to the bronx and they bring all their high energy stuff. maybe its the place itself. nah! it’s different for First Wednesdays. so maybe its the crowd. anywayz, its been stellar performance after stellar performance with everybody just giving a lil bit more…. fish did that and i am really happy for him.

the sequel- come back in two weeks and hear alixa & naima rip the blue ox apart with a dynamic multi-media collaborative showcase.