So now I dance with my shadows, and verse lines with my alternate realities.
I've heard there's about a million more of me somewhere.
I can affirm four living in my brain.
One's a life in which I got you; we dance, we glance at each other in a never ending love song.
we twirl and define our abrupt consciousness. And you weep for me each night, and we lock arms under the moon. And everyday is like the very first time you laid eyes on me as I was yours.
One's a life in which I have lost you; I work and work till my eyes gutter.
I cash in pay cheques my speech slurs and stutters. And I hate cats now; because their vivid galaxy eyes remind me of you. I hate dissecting my food and feelings Infront of anybody.
One's a life in which I have fame; it's dull under all of my glitter gowns. I have moments where I feel wanted and it is in those moments where my urge to disappear from the face of the earth begins.
There's a life, one more;
in which who I am, I'm not quite sure.
Maybe it's my only conscience that lives as an original to greet your eyes.
And I never know whom to be, and what to smile. It's the most painful one so far. I hate mirrors in this one, I only reflect what your eyes tell me to do.
Sometimes I aspire to be the girl of your dreams, but sometimes I wish we were no more.
(than friends)
As I dance, and dance;
The moon cannot keep up and wishes to sleep.
I fall asleep too, it's like sliding from a hollow hole so steep.
And regain myself each mornings to swoon.
I'm a lover of this dance, and it's only just June!
The Philly Renaissance is in full swing. The museum hall fills with young creatives. Impressionist art projected upon the granite walls. The DJ plays Fela Kuti and other songs of social change.
We celebrate 100 years at the @barnesfoundation. And from everything I’ve read of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, I imagine 100 years ago they were having parties like this, in big ballrooms like this, and filled with artistic genius like this. Thus named the Roaring Twenties.
One key difference between then and now is accessibility. Then this would be a gala reserved for “high society”. Now we are made to feel the high society. The museum opens its doors to the creative minds of Philadelphia. It encourages all the diverse expressions that make up our beautiful city to show up dressed in bright colors and avant garde shapes. Creates space for them to overlap and interweave and with any luck paint a grand new golden age.
It’s exciting to meet and exchange ideas with these culture makers and community organizers of our generation. I write poems for them about “Purpose”, “Art As Healing”, “Infinity”, “Film & Family”, and “A Painter Who Only Paints Men For The Last 2 Years, & How It Changed Her Life”.
I don’t take lightly how poetry has been curated into the evening. Something to be archived for historians 100 years from now to look back and find.
Who was there. Who performed. What was talked about. What dreams came to life. The plagues and struggles we survived, in order to come back together and thrive.
All of this in the fabric of our gathering. In the connections made outside the poems being written live.
What a beautiful spectacle.
I’m extremely grateful to be in it. Excited to be alive at this time. A time when museums in Philly craft experiences alongside this city’s unique collective spirit.
Whereas many artists in Modigliani’s era (currently on exhibition at The Barnes) may have remained out of focus in their lifetime, we see in our time now perhaps a chance for local, lesser known artists to socialize and dance and even soak up some of that limelight inside the great halls of the museum.
08/05/22 No one will ever be as entertained by us as us” 🤣 #TennysonBlockParty #WhiskeyIcePops #SillyGirls #NeverADullMoment #TheyMatchMyVibe #Pose #WeGoingOutTonight #TripleTrouble #HippieVibez #PoetryOnDemand #LoveMyFriends @landons_nana @nikkapruitt https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci4Fo3ZM78risEYUVP13OgaIffjEDiI2-64nWA0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
I never understood the expression “if you love someone, you let them go” I always thought, who the hell loves someone and allows them to walk away?? I did not understand it, until I met you. Love isn’t wanting someone for yourself just to fill some kind of void. Love is wanting the absolute best for someone, even if it means the absolute best isn’t with you. It’s seeing them happy and living out there best life. It’s allowing someone to be who they are in their entirety without the want or need to change or to withhold them because it doesn’t involve or benefit you. So with all that said, this is where I let you go. I hope that life gives you everything you want and dream of, I hope you live a life so content and full of love that when you are old and grey you can look back and have absolutely no regrets. Now go live, there’s a whole life out there waiting for you;
Last night at the Mural Arts Wall Ball, I saw the great minds of my time enter the ring and champion the power of voice! Serendipitous that our venue, 2300 Arena, typically hosts boxing and professional wrestling.
But this was no death match. No, a Def Jam poetry slam revival is less a battle and more a tribute to the heart’s vibrance. Each performer took their time to work over the crowd. Raising spirits in the details between the lines. Pieced together the identity behind the microphone and took the listener on a journey through sound and rhythm.
I knew there was a movement in store when the DJ launched the evening with a favorite track by Fela Kuti. Meanwhile aerialists defied gravity, swinging trapeze from the ceiling. Live muralists transformed our surroundings with colors and unique mindforms. Talk about a dream exhibition! Nearby friend and fellow BarnesWest Artist @karensmithdrums led a jazz ensemble on djembe. And I heard one of my favorite Philly poets @urucker take the stage and transmute feeling into sonic overtures like light beams.
As poets, we were there to honor literary legends, Sonia Sanchez and Danny Simmons. The architects of where Philly’s poetry scene arrives today. But as the night progressed it became a celebration of Philly’s cultural might present in each individual.
I met art curator and patron, mother and husband, dreamer and visionary one after the other. And each with a story to tell. Some magic to inspire. A gift of creative impulse to light another’s candle. They asked for poems about Love, Purpose, Growth, Teaching, and all colors of the rainbow. And I felt the Muse dancing happily between us all.
What an incredible way to bring National Poetry Month in Philly to a close. Still a few more days left, but I think after last night I’m going to take it slow and enjoy the reflections!
Thanks so much to Katy from @wittygrittyphl for inviting me to be a part of the ceremonies and to @muralarts for reflecting so much of the diverse dreamscape that is our home! These twenties are roaring, and it’s so special to see all those who are playing a part in making the world a better place, more full of creative expression!