i am soooooo hung over. two consecutive- three hour sleep nights is not good for the soul.

i am pretty harsh when it comes to some other poets and some ther events and it feels almost hypocritical talking about how good acentos is. mucho thanks to the rest of the blogger.tribe for backing up our claims of community & poetry in the bx.

the crowd showed up on latino.time so when i got to the blue ox (early!) i had that oh.shit.i.know.everybody.who.is.heres.last.name feeling but the ox filled up quite nicley by the end. i am still in that mindset whre i would prefer for the ox to be 3/4 full with all ears on as opposed to having it standing room only and people not really paying attention. just having typed that out, i realized that the ox is so tight that it makes randon conversations during a poem almost impossible. at the bowery you can hang all the way in the back and hear the poet clear as day and still be able to have a running commentary without fucking up the show too much. ditto for 13. the nuyo not so much- you have to hit the ‘steve cannon’ corner to be able to talk through somebody’s piece.

i reverted back to the potty mouth host (sorry, fish) for way too much of the open mic and i gotta kepp on top of that. 19 person open mic… again. that speaks volumes for the work that we are doing but i am going to have to get stricter with people. if you show up on time- you got a spot. if you show up late- you’re taking a chance. the one dude i had to turn away was really cool about it so i promised him a slot for the next go around- not everyone is that nice and sometimes you get an asshole that insists on being put on.

many new voices- many appreciative voices- two dudes went out of their way to thank us for making it happen in the bronx. thanks right back, y’all, for coming out. duffy, mr and chris white all returned.

sad note- the ladies on the mic is still slim. thanks to nina, jess and maria for being our core voice and manning the front lines to keep the testosterone in check. shay came by and dropped a piece for her birthday (gracias!) and rain leon made my night by showing up- putting her name on the open list and then telling me ‘ok, i’ll go right a poem for it now’ and the poem was hella-dope. raina may give rich a run for his money as the ‘poem machine’

bonafide is an incredible mix of 12 yr old rock child, 67 yr old griot in training and 26 yr old steven. his set was bookended by the performance/slam pieces that he knows tell great stories and maintain the casual ears attention. stick in the middle his newer work and his more introspective pieces and you have the recipe for a great set that was all smudged up with his jibaro fingerprints all over it.

an impromptu acentos crew meeting followed. the meeting was great in that we all got to be honest in the cold and things were said without malice. ears were open and i listened when i had to and shut my self up at the right times. i was cold as hell when it was over but it helped make the night that much better.

the afterparty was almost as good but rich’s car got vandalized- again! this is when you have to question mad shit- rich goes out of his way to give back to poetry. some mutahfuckas love to show up- drop the knowledge- then break out. rich always tries to give as much back as possible and his reward is this shit.

moments like this really undress me and my ‘i’ll let you talk as i listen’ demeanor gets put to the test when not really much can be said. so we didnt say anything for a while, shared a glass of wine, then i said some shit that i didnt think i was going to say out loud that night. it involved heart break and how i can let go but too many times i wonder if i let go too fast.

confessionals was the order of the night. i had a few folks tell me some things that always seem to be the domain of late night bars and a few drinks to warm up the throat. i was happy to be who i was and feeling lucky to be in the right places at the right time.

i am listening to a tape of last sunday’s synonymus rehersal for tonight’s nuyo event. ray just yelled out ‘what is thsi, broadway?’ as abena is adding her musical inisght and i am about to start the third take on my piece. these jams arent always fun but they always produce good work and i cant wait to see how its going to come out.