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7even Questions

Believe it, or not, not every poet in New York City has a blog. Of course, most of them have wonderful perspective on this renaissance we are in the midst of. With that in mind, I’m going to try to give them an opportunity to be a lil bit louder in the cyber world.

The Rules- I ask seven questions and the answers go up on the blog in their entirety, totally unedited. (Much thanks to Krystal Ashe for inspiring the idea)

Our Poet- Abena Koomson, one of the best voices in our community right now. Whether she is singing or ruminating on the mic, Abena is all inspiration and goodness. “She makes me happy to be poet,” was a comment I heard after Abena finished dropping a piece last Monday.

o.b.:  Let’s start with the obvious- Why do you go onstage with your poetry?

AK-47: I want to learn from the sharing of it.  I know what I learn from the writing of it. I learn about my inner life. I learn what’s important to me. On stage, I’m learning something about vulnerability. As much as I love people and as much as I give, I’m still an incredibly private person whose public aspect can sometimes hide my vulnerability.

o.b.:  As a performer, what has been the most dynamic stage you’ve been on?

AK-47: The Workshop Theatre at Sarah Lawrence College.

In college I was in a production of Once on this Island that rocked my world, and later that year I wrote a Cabaret where this cute girl from California rocked my world. Her name was Elana Bell. We made extraordinary music. The rest is history.

o.b.:  What is the biggest thing you have learned hanging out by the merchandise table at the back of Bar13?

AK-47: a) Hugging poets is one of my favorite activities.

b) I have every intention of figuring out how to get people to buy more stuff. This too is a craft.

o.b.:  Have you ever revised or edited out large sections of a poem while on the mic? Why?

AK-47: I feel free to do that, whenever. (then people ask me to see the poem, and I’m like, “oops.”) As for why, the answer is partially found in the world of Jazz. You take a standard and as you push through the refrains and melodies, you find spaces for interpretation. And then of course there are the days where I forget my own poem…

o.b.:  Who would you pay $20 to see on a poetry stage?

AK-47: Sonia Sanchez with her beautiful strange & dangerous self. Her performance lives for me in a way that elevates my experience of her on the page. I think our wild sides are very connected, and I grew up with her work.

o.b.:  “If singing is like flying with angels, then poetry is like…”

AK-47: being in a relationship with one. The struggle of trying to explain to someone from another world what this world is like…the cost of being loved by a being who will only love even though you can (and do) hate…the delicate connection which could break at any moment…the attempts to describe in detail that which we all know intuitively…the rapture of celestial kisses…the constant threat that looms in long distance relationships…it’s exactly like being in love with an angel and trying to work it out every day of your life.

o.b.:  Should the Jets pick up Keyshawn again?

AK-47: Can’t hurt what they’re doin’ right now. Why not? That dude better play some football for somebody!

“You’re all by yourself but you’re not alone”

Tonight is Fish’s feature at Acentos, if you are reading this then you are either planning to be there or have already explained to Fish why your mom’s open heart surgery is only just a teensy bit more important than a night at the Ox. I’m really excited to see what’s going to happen tonight.

It has been one year, to the date, since Fish got to upperCASE at 13. (Also notable is the fact that I upperCASEd before Fish and Rich got to upperCASE right after, so if you want to be down with the Caban Cabal guess watcha gotta do?) I am a HUGE believer in cycles and the opportunity to be able to look at a body of your work from one calendar year to the next is an amazing barometer of artistic growth and a change.

There are tapes I have of some early synonymUS jams, and some tapes of just me and Ray getting together before there was a synonymUS, and when you hear the early versions of Lynne’s “Ghetto Nightmares…” or a raw version of “MOTB” or “Leticia” and then see how far it can come or how, just as soon as you say– “It’s done!”– another twist emerges and the poem becomes that much better.

Guy will be hosting and, on the real, that’s worth four of the $5 in and of itself. This may be his first hosting duties since leaving 13 and it will be fun to see him shake off the rust and get back to telling motherfuckers to shut up and respect the mic. Note of importance- Today is one year to the day that Guy and Salome (Happy Birthday! again) decided that Virginia maybe for lovers but it aint all that.

One mo time– Come to Acentos, listen to the Open Mic that is cranking out voices like Jacko… nah, won;t go there, check out Guy trying to control 60 Bronxites, listen to Fish attempt to out top himself, and (if you have a sec) chill with me in the back as I soak it all in and take a night off from any official Acentos duties.

“Make me strong, yeah you make me bold”

Why must all these Acentos audiences work on Latino Time? There have been maybe two shows that the audience showed up on time for. The Karen Jamie show started with me knowing everyone in the place, by first name, last name, and phone number… don’t laugh.

The tradition extends to our other events as Ascension begins with three of five features and a crowd that was what would be referred to in some cases as… intimate. Good fortune still smiles as we have Eliana (on guitar from Russia via St Louis) and Mitsu (on upright bass from Japan via DC) joining Ray for an impromptu jam (huh! synonymUS! huh!). After Rich dropped a pair of poems (hey, it looked like we were going to have a long time to kill!), Eliana & Mitsu rocked out for about 12 minutes and then they helped me close out the Open Mic with ‘Oda para Leticia’- synonymUS style.

The NKOTB kicked it off with Nina Parrilla taking the lead off position like a champ. Anything more will make her blush but I will just say that she was everything I always thought she would be and then some.

Next up to bat, Juan Diaz, looking all Alfonso Soriano but without the low swing. His poem selection was tight but he showed some neo-rust in his performance. And he was still much better than I was at my first feature spot!

Jessica flipped the whole script by starting out her set with the high chair, Willie Perdomo style. Anybody else may be looking at an 0-2 situation but Jess’ imagery is strong enough for her to let the words take over and leave the drama for others.

All three are much farther ahead then when I got my first taste of the feature spotlight (Opening for a show that Roger was doing at the Bowery Poetry Club. This crowd wasn’t intimate– it was just plain incestuous! The set went aight, Rog’s show was strong even though the crowd size did not change, and, of major note, that was the night I met Cheryl Boyce-Taylor.) As with any performers, the NKOTB have miles to go but at least the first step started out strong.

After the break, we end out the “sofrito & pork rind portion of the evening” with the music of Tyrone Acosta. I usually defer to Ray for analysis of a musical act but I do know that Tyrone brings a lot of voice with him onstage, a strange twist of his more reserved off-stage persona. (Why is the comic book geek in me wondering which one is the mask and which is the face?) On top of that, Tyrone is young, Ecuadorian, and trying to get ahead on his own terms… what mo’ ya want?

I had fun hosting this muthafuckah and acted all the fool the whole night long while doing my best to make sure that the performers got to be as comfortable as possible

And a special shout to the ‘new hotness.’ Ms Rebecca Hart.

“The smoke was alibi thick” Say word.

Night three was also fantastic with Grisel+Toro going all garage band daze on us, Mara’s stage presence increases by the outing, Roger brings it up a notch by finding it all within, and Farbeon & Rabbi Darkside renew my faith in hip-hop.

All done on eight days notice!

“Oscar”

‘yeah, ray?’

“We have a space to do synonymUS.”

‘word! when?’

“Next week.”

‘huh?’

“And we have it for three days.”

‘huh?!’

“Let’s plan out a show…”

How we actually pulled it off is a lil much even for me but the combo of Ray’s vision and my behind the scenes help is a good combo and I can’t wait to see how we take this momentum and infuse it into the next incarnation of synonymUS.

synonymUS presents FUNKtion @ TIXE theatre, 113 w 42nd street

Ascension – friday, november 21st, 8pm

–Acentos brings new voices from the Blue Ox Bar of the Bronx to TIXE’s stage:

Tyrone Acosta, Juan Diaz, Nina Parrilla, and Jessica Torres

present their work to the heart of 42nd Street.

-Catch the buzz of “multiple personality folk-jazz-rock constellation,” better known as Rebecca Hart. Rebecca, master of songwriting, guitar and voice, will perform songs from her three albums.

Open mic sign-up at 7:30pm.

Tickets – $10, Students $5

(This will be an amazing night celebrating the hard work that has gone into Acentos and a sneak peek into the voices that will be the vanguard of the new Nuyorican movement. If you are reading this, show up. Punto!)

“when we’re gona set you “

i’ve been tryin to post last week’s craziness for ever. problem– i start small and go big, so let’s try to keep it brief

11.10 monday:: good turnout at 13 for samantha raheem (who wuz fuckin excellent) and the slam renewed my faith as roger is joined in the third round by elana(!) and abena(!!!) i’ll make a special note of abena’s emergence– she is one of the spirits that can take any endeavor and make it better just by her being in the room. nuff said.

11.11 tuesday:: teaching at mind-builders has become a true trial by fire as my program director has been hit with a couple of emergencies and has missed a few classes. as the drama and dance instructor, i was hoping she would be the one that would be keeping the kids coming back for my creative writing. as i understand it is way more fun for a kid to learn to uprock and improv then to hit a free write. no such luck and now i have to make this class progressive AND fun. this is why my goatee has a ton of gray. all good, the fire tempers… the fire tempers.

acentos with willie perdomo! nervous as all fuck and i clearly admit it on the mic (breaking one of the rules i love to spit out!). it takes me a couple of open micers to get back into the flow and i am just overwhelmed at the quality of the open mic as we are quickly approaching the…

“for real, i can’t fit nobody else in” mode of open mic.ness

willie came through on his promise to rich and debuted two brand new poems that may one day find themselves in a book or anthology and to which rich villar can proudly say, “i made that happen.” craziness!

the infamous “crazy bunch” added to the acentos down home flavor and put willie in an unusual position… doing his down-home/this.is.how.the.ghetto.really.is*take.it.or.leave.it/listen+learn

poetry in front of some folks that now where he is embellishing for art’s sake. the truth in poetry debate is pretty old and one of my dad’s maxims has always permeated my poems “don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story” definitely a challenge for one of our most revered voices but if it wasn’t for the challenge– why get on stage? i am glad to see willie come through and add his presence to our legacy and it was a true honor and pleasure to have intro’ed him.

the afterparty was bananas! new bartender (dont call her bartendress), tina was off da meter. a lil loud at the BCA reading a week before, she found out that acentos is a whole different vibe and responded accordingly lending us all her respect. afterwards she thought it would be a good idea to follow a manhattan that eliel had bought me with a tequilla shot. sweet girl but she reminded me the devil is made of marzipan.

guy, siegel, juan lindo, rich, and jessica kept the party going till 3 and i was seeing more hints of the oft-mentioned botanica sessions creeping into the acentos fold.

11.12 wednesday:: yes! i made it to work on time!! the BCA has a reading at 7 up in riverdale and i choose to hit that instead of a reading at columbia u regarding the role of arts in america’s prison system (according to my well places sources, i kinda made the right choice)

i got there late and missed one of the main readers but still got to hear a bit of good fiction (dat’s right- fiction not poetry)

leslie shipman asked me to read so i said sure and busted out the ghetto chapbook i’m carrying around right now to keep the greatest hits organized, tentative title the view from mt. eden ave

i did ‘brooklyn back break beat’ to a good response on the latter images and then went into ‘ceviche’ and pulled a robert bly on them by stopping in line three and explaining my love-hate relationship with brooklyn.

the half drunk fordham u’ers laughed and lapped it all up and hell, if i cant have a good time, then whats the point.

11.13 thursday:: back to brooklyn as roger sponsors what normally would be called a salon but instead becomes a night of revelry, inappropriateness, and some hard truth telling as in the midst of all the corona.ness, we speak of writing and how it affects us as men.

these moments are few and far between and can easily be dispatched with a well placed joke but its very healing when we focus away from being the center of the stage and let the conversation flow organically and unfettered. there are two things that i love to do when that happens

1) watch and absorb

2) put people in the hot seat

of course, this also means that i dont mind being put in the hot seat and i also enjoy that my own view points are heard

much more may come of this then just bar tales and strange christening

11.14 friday:: no poetry! yeah! i can relax and… ohshit!… i get so wrapped up in work i forget syreeta’s birthday and rush to brooklyn in time to hear some ill beats, notice the pulp in a mango martini, and have a pair of mojitos come my way by divine intervention (and daniel’s hand)

this is the four out of five days that alcohol is getting the lead role and i am just makin a note for personal reference. afterwards, i meet up with ray to help calm him down from the disappointment of a good party gone bad. it’s all good time as we hit the spaceship casita still reveling over the almost was

11.15 saturday:: celena glenn has a cd release party that turns out to be half cluster fuck (why your opening act gotta be that long?) and all mind fuck as celena is really trying to take this performance poetry thing and warp it into her own image. more power to her, as the results are unexpected, intrusive, and entirely original. no alcohol! as i hit the caffeine hard instead. and the after part resumes at the spaceship casita with ray holding court over a mix of friends. the convo sadly turns to poetry (i have to start hanging out with other artists, on the real) and eventually def poetry. “oscar, your viewpoint?”

and believe it or not, i answer in a clear two sentence answer that takes only a minute to come out.

more silliness, and more introspection as i seem to be sipping a lot of tears in my vodka lately.

11.16 sunday:: one there was no poetry and then there are days like this… three events.

1) grisel has a reading at BMCC at 11am. say it again, eleven in the ay-em. my interest is piqued as it is billed as a spanish language in poetry symposium and of course, as with most of these college things, its not.

grisel reads an hour of poetry, fiction, song, and skits letting me see her range as a performer and then we hit the q&a.

questions like “ever performed at the nuyorican?” leave me a lil sad.

comments like “hispanic artists arent really supporting each other” leave me annoyed.

opinions like “tree and park poems are so unimportant and i want spanish poets to be more radical” leave me pissed off

being that its grisel’s q&a, i dont play the dick role and turn it into my personal playground, i just wait for a goodmoment and calmly address the students asking some of the sillier questions and lay em out quick and clean then return the floor to grisel. worked out pretty nice.

afterwards, i was invited for some brunch and had a blast with toro, noel, and some new friends. someone challenged that erasure was better than zeppelin… dats all ju need to know

2) the louder workshop with lynne going over performance. i love workshops, the exchange, the revelations.

lynne had me read tony hoagland’s “hate hotel” and then had me read it mad… i dont like dat shit and wonder just how much i am going to do to get an audience reaction… there is one poem i have in my head that needs that type of intensity but it is a price i’m not sure i can pay.

3) synonymUS jam! more fun as we try shit out that we arent or shouldnt be trying on a regular open mic. ray has been keeping the synonymUS name alive and well through these studio recordings and new marvelous work has emerged. abena (i’m bringing it back, full circle) has been integral and her talent on vocals, instrumentation, and organization have been key. scott williams, peter dressler, jessica elizabeth, and omri have also been regulars making the next incarnation of synonymUS be a worth while event if just to see how it compares to version one.

i went multi voice with vivienne miranda and had her take the role of leticia in my poem. a good start to what i hope may be some more group work with other spanish speaking poets.

and dats de week in review… back to you, russ!