Read this brief on point essay from 2008 about poetry slam. I’m at work, bored and found myself conversing with the article in my head. “The oral traditions of poetry are in trouble, and performers like this are to blame, performers who believe that as long as words are being performed, they don't have to …
O.P.P.
OTHER PEOPLE'S POETRY, YO!: Take a poem you like. Delete every other line. Write an original line to replace what you've erased. Now erase all that remains of the original poem. Re-write what's left. That's a dope prompt. I tried it yesterday and kinda liked what came out. I almost printed it here, but I …
The Last Haul
my grandfather was my first employer. he worked as a landscaper and yard man for home owners along the Oakland Hills Piedmont, Berkeley. I was with him every summer between late grade school and Jr high. his drove a muscular Ford truck carpeted with spilled malts and holes candy wrappers, Styrofoam bowls for Big Macs. …
The Two Oceans
One Year Ago: I stood on San Francisco's Ocean Beach, hours early to a wedding of a friend. I was alone and staring out into the expanse of the sea. It was between storms, the clouds rolled as if being poured into the sky. This was the first time I'd seen two different oceans within …
A Tale Of Two Readings
The first reading was for a fundraiser for Breast Cancer. My friend from high school emailed a while back asking if I’d participate. I immediately said yes before I thought—exactly what am I supposed to say to a room full of women about breast cancer?? What kind of audience is this?? But my heart kept …
The Stranger
In the last poem I wrote about my mother, in which I tell a story about one of my last hospital visits with her, there briefly appears a woman named Theresa. Theresa was my mom's closest friend in the last decade or so of her life. Theresa's oldest daughter and I are Facebook friends. And …
Friday the 13th Part 18: Jason Goes To Home Depot
Friday the 13th Part 18 Jason Goes To Home Depot Jason fingers the new gas-powered chainsaws & the Chinese steel hacksaws like new pornography. He recalls how easy petals of flesh would open, pollenating the air with blood. A young man timidly approaches him, asks May i help you and Jason turns, and quietly notices …
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One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show
Without Bart, I had to get to San Francisco hours early for the reading I was in. For a 5:30 call time, I was at the Embarcadero eating vegan doughnuts, sipping coffee and journalling by 3. I finally commuted deeper into the city, back to the Mission and a neighborhood I once lived. Behind me, …
Giving A Poetry Reading
He called and asked months ago, and I mean months, for me to read at his venue-- a bookstore in Fort Mason, San Francisco. I put it in my calendar and forgot until last Monday he called to remind me, then immediately apolgized for not being able to make it. I got tickets to the …
Hashtag Random, Hashtag Um, Yeah, No Reason
Halle Berry full of honey The Oscar is with thee Blessed Art Thou Amongst movie stars And Blessed art the state of Ohio from which you ascend. Halle Berry, Mother of Fair Skinned Actresses and Models Pray for our skin & complexion, Pray for the Loveless & Lonely, Pray for us fans standing in rain …
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The Dirty Rat 