Red wine that punctures the skin

Achiote PressMil gracias to Craig, Jen & Len of Achiote Press for giving me the chance to read alongside my wife, finally meet and hear the dope work of Bec, having Ver share with me the tale of the Tongans and to contribute to the next Achiote Seeds. Let’s just say that there is no shortage of inspiration right now and I couldn’t be happier with life and my poetry.

SET LIST
– Dawn En Nueva Yo
– Menagerie
– After Working The Late Shift Again, A Young Boricua On Times Square
Composes a Response To a White Co-Worker Concerning The Myth of Racism
– My Father, A Cabdriver, Chimes In With A Few Words of His Own on The
Myth of Racism as He Drives by Times Square
– Being Don Quixote by Rich Villar
– an atlas of nationalism
– Sonnet for the Lexington Avenue Express—Mt Eden Ave Stop
– Dedication

Extra Notes
Dawn is composed of lines from Poeta En San Francisco (you can see a first draft here. At the time I posted it I didn’t think it would become a poem but asi es la vida.)

Menagerie is gonna work its way back into my readings.

Since Rich couldn’t be in the Bay, I decided to bring some of his special wepa-ness to the mix. Barbara also read a few of his pieces as well.

This reading also marks the first time I read out of my new self-produced chapbook “Anywhere Avenue” which you will be hearing more about shortly.

Palabra.

Achiote Seeds
from L to R: Jennifer Reimer, Craig Perez, Barbara Jane Reyes, Oscar Bermeo, Veronica Montes, Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor & Todd Melicker

The Scorecard II


Fielder’s Choice
Originally uploaded by andyi.

In baseball, a fielder’s choice (abbreviated FC) is most often the act of a fielder, upon fielding a batted ball, choosing to try to put out one runner while in so doing allowing the batter-runner to advance to first base.

A batter who reaches base safely as the result of a fielder’s choice is not credited with a hit; he is effectively charged with an out (and an at bat) just as if he had been put out himself.

Now how in the high hell does this have anything to do with poetry? Well, lemme tell you.

Your boy sent another submission out in April. (Swing, batter, batter, swing!)
He was called in for an interview. (Run, Forest! Run!)
He did not make the cut. (Collective groan.)
But he is still on base. (Huh?)

It seems that I made enough of an impression during the interview to be given “alternate” status which means I’m going to take full advantage of the opportunity at hand (I get to sit in on the initial workshops), take a ton of notes (this workshop will be full of experienced interdisciplinary artists) and hopefully gain a poem or two from it all.

Returning to the baseball metaphor, I have every intention of being the dangerous runner on base and try my best to score (even though in real life, I have zero skills on the diamond).

For those keeping score at home, here is the submission that has gotten me this far:
– Viewing the world from the back of a turtle
– The Hue of Ripened Fruit
– About B-Boys in the Boogie Down
– an atlas of nationalism
РCanto del Ni̱o Pobre
– Mercy on the Battlefield

Because of the nature of the project I decided to go with a bit more geographic and cultural movement in the pieces. Oh, and ye olde reliable (Mercy) makes an appearance but not in written form. I used the track from 5 Past 13 to show that I have some collaborative & performance experience.

More info to come (if I round the bases) or maybe not (if I get tagged out trying to advance).

Love ya like Crackers Jacks & Hot Dawgs

I’m breathin in/I’m breathin out

Last night’s IWL reading was all kinds of wonderful. Different voices, different styles, maximum effort with an audience full of attentive listeners. It was my first time reading at Intersection for the Arts and lemme say, as both a reader and an audience member, its a dope space for poetry.

When I walked in the door they told me I was gonna be the first reader of the night which (for some strange reason) did not come as a surprise.

SET LIST
– Sepia
– Revelation & Anywhere Avenue
– Dedication
РCanto del Ni̱o Pobre
– After Working The Late Shift Again, A Young Boricua On Times Square
Composes a Response To a White Co-Worker Concerning The Myth of Racism
– My Father, A Cabdriver, Chimes In With A Few Words of His Own on The
Myth of Racism as He Drives by Times Square
– Sonnet for the Lexington Avenue Express—Mt Eden Ave Stop

Much newness present here with five of the seven poems being read for the first time and all of these poems written in the last three weeks.

Full disclosure time… Sepia was written as part of a collaborative writing exercise at one of the first IWL workshops. The piece read last night is a highly edited version of the lines I contributed. Dedication is a translation exercise which I was playing around with over a month ago but it didn’t come together until just yesterday afternoon. This piece is also in speed-edit mode thanks to the input of my amazing wife who also helped give shape to Sepia in record time.

All of this bodes very well for Sunday’s Achiote Press reading where I will be reading alongside some fly poetas and unveil a surprise or two. Ding- The Nebulous Bell!

More info on the Achiote Press reading at Craig’s blog or you can download a PDF flyer here.