A couple weeks ago, a fellow poet, Rebeca, sent me the most inspiring message on Facebook. She told me a funny story of how her 9 year old daughter, Kassandra, discovered a copy of my book, Northside Cries Lullabies, and how she read a haiku, loved it, and felt inspired to write her own. She ended the message with this: "Just thought you should know. You inspire."
How cool is that! I was completely humbled by her story. Of course I wanted to read the haikus she scribbled down, so I asked my friend and her daughter if she wouldn't mind sharing them with me. She did, and I fell in love with them so much that I wanted to feature them on here and share them with all of you. Please read...
Nintendo
dark pink and pretty,
I heart you.
Crazy man
green glasses and short
I'm laughing.
Jellybeans rolling
down, around and inside small
dark brown fourth grade hands.
Jump, jump high
the moons a baseball
for the night.
Each haiku is a colorful and innocent look into the perspective of a 9 year old. Just perfection.
Much love to Rebeca and Kassandra for being awesome and for allowing me to share her growing, yet beautiful poetic voice.
Reading her poems actually inspired me start a project with my own students. Now the inspiration has come full circle. Its a beautiful thing when we are able to inspired and then become inspired, isn't it?
Yo-la, Phil-ly! Guess who is this month's Big Pimpin' feature?
Yup. Philadelphia's own Irwin Roman, also known as P.
So, I first met P in early 2009 at an open mic night hosted by Dope Boys of Poetry which is a group of Philly poets in which P is also a member. He is notoriously known within the group for writing short, yet powerful poetry. The man is direct and likes to get his readers straight to the point and ain't nothing wrong with that!
I decided to feature him this month because not only do I enjoy his writing style, but he has also officially joined the self-publishing club with the recent release of his first poetry collection, Philadelphia Demeanor.
Plus, dude was kind enough to split a little ink with me on a collaborative poem, The Zoo, in my upcoming book which you will get to read very soon.
Feels good to see Philly doing big things :)
Here's a poem from his collection, and one of my personal favorites...Isis:
Isis
by Irwin "P" Roman
He told me her code name was Isis
But he doesn't realize that he's not the first man she treated like this
The highs where unbelievable but they came with devastating lows
Isis was well versed in the ring she handed excruciating blows
But he still loved her and just quite why nobody knows
He adored the she devil from her head down to her toes
And then came the day he couldn't take it no more
Next thing he knows Isis had walked out the door
But he never had the chance to tell her how he feels
He was so ready to buy that ring and on bended knee kneel
With wounds so deep that years later they still haven't healed
But it's over now like 112's Bad Boy deal
And Isis' M.O. just keeping it real
Is playing with the hearts of men just to stomp them with her stiletto heels
Now once he told me about the girl with the code name Isis
I told him since the days of Adam and Eve there's always been girls like this.
I wouldn't be me if I didn't make it a goal in life to constantly seek and surround myself with people who are not only creative, positive, motivated, but also driven. That's why I want to create a "Big Pimpin" series - perhaps a monthly post where I feature some of my friends and their work (poetry, artwork, music, etc). The world deserves to know their names.
And we will jump start this "Big Pimpin" series right with my friend, The Millenium Kid.
The Millenium Kid is an artist and talented beat-maker on a mission "to provide a service beyond exceptional by way of music".
And lucky for us, he also enjoys picking up the pen from time to time, writing lyrics and poetry. The boy got skills, musically and lyrically, which is why I wanted to feature two of his poems, The Gemini Lover, and Drama Outside My Window.
Remember his name, people! I have no doubt that he will be the one to put his hometown Norristown, PA on the map some day.
Until then, I guarantee you will enjoy these two poems, as well as his MYSPACE MUSIC PAGE.
First, I haven't been around much because (1) Having technical issues (aka my computer is down and my tech guy isn't really feeling me at the moment) (2) Writing has been put on the back burner for the last few weeks. I was busy doing some soul searching - talking to God, talking to myself and stuff. Yeah, and I'm in the process of going back to school in January for Early Childhood Education :)
Excuses, excuses...I know. However, since then I've been trying to get this train rolling on my second collection of poetry, Northside Cries & Lullabies. I know I keep pushing back the release date but it just doesn't feel ready yet. Every day a new idea hits me and I fall back into it like an ex-lover I can't let go of. So I decided not to rush it. It's done when it's done! sigh. That's the advantage of self-publishing.
But seriously, words fail to express how nervous and excited I am about releasing this collection...
Nerves: As a writer, most of my inspiration comes from my own real life and from the things and people around me. It isn't easy for me to put myself out there and there are a lot of personal pieces in this collection - true thoughts and feeling; real life experiences.
Excitement: Once again, putting myself back out into the universe and improving my skills in book marketing and self-promotion (which I SUCK at so ideas are always welcomed).
I'm also excited about the several collaborative poems I decided to add to the book. It was truly a last minute idea, but I think it's a good way to display some of my collaborations with the cool, talented poets I met via writing communities and open mics.
My new month resolutions (I know we're already a week into November, but work with me):
*Get a new tech guy *Finish up collaborative poems, and editing. *Develop a GOOD marketing plan (aye aye aye) *Show my blog some more lovin' (blog more often)
November has brought me a whole new wave of positive energy. I think I'm finally learning that I have to put out what I want to receive :) I'm feeling good, ya'll! It's going to be a long ride for sure. Hold tight!
In the mean time, you can enjoy this video blog by my MetroLine Media partner and homeskillet, Mr. Angel Lozada! Aside from his awesome sense of humor, dude is hella talented, smart and has a great future in telecommunications ahead of him. Make sure you subscribe to his BLOG and YouTube Channel.
