Be a river with me;
Be the storm;
the bend in the path;
the front porch; the heat in the south;
be a boot full of banjo strings;
a fist full of written songs;
a mouth full of chocolate dust.
When they come to take us,
stab them between the eyes.
Do not take your hand from around mine.
Make
a fist with the other, and punch spines like guilds, spit, sweat, kiss
them like a grandmother. How will open mouthed terror love filled?
And when they come to cut out hair and ask to hear penance come from inside us,
say with me loud and trembling,
but loud and clear that:
"i
have already emptied myself. I kissed regret goodbye, took the hands of
another backwards angel, and rode backwards into the rain"
15 minutes left of Fred's birthday. (1hr 15mins, if you're on Central Time)
Wowzers!! Over the past two decades, he's been almost like a brother to me...ok...he's been exactly like a brother to me:) It seems like only yesterday, he was the short little squirt I was picking on in the back seat, during our family road trips. Now he's taller than me, practically a full grown man of 22, and rocks in every way imaginable. Love this guy!
If you haven't done so already, wish my "baby" bro Happy Birthday!! Don't know him? No worries. Send him warm thoughts and wishes. They'll get to him. I promise:)
In honor of the 22nd anniversary of his relationship with this life, check out this Anis Mojgani poem. It has become a mutual favorite of ours!! Here I Am
"Will I be something? Am I something? And the answer comes Already am, Always was, and I still have time to be." - Anis Mojgan
I'm certain that he didn't write this poem just for me, but today is my birthday, so let's just pretend!! I discovered this new piece by Anis Mojgani quite randomly, and just had to post it. It seriously made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
"come closer come into this come closer you are quite the beauty if no one has ever told you that before, know that right now - you are quite the beauty
there is joy in how your mouth dances with your teeth your smile is a sign of how sacred your life actually is come into it come closer
know that something softer than us, but just as holy placed a piece of himself within our feet" - excerpt from "Come Closer"
See what I mean? Simply beautiful! Check out the vid below and be sure to pass it on. Everyone needs to hear these words.
I'm kind of on an Anis Mojgani kick these days, so I decided to highlgiht his advise in this week's "Writing Tips."
It's from an interview he did last year with Common-Line's Ananda Osel
Osel: What makes a good performance poem?
Mojgani: Respecting your audience. Don’t think that you as a poet are in a position to teach them anything or give them something they’ve never heard before. One of our most precious commodities is time. Don’t waste theirs by asking them to invest it into something that’s bullshit.
1. Having the courage to be vulnerable. 2. Having an honest and organic connection to your work. 3. Not forcing anything. 4. Make it interesting.
If you haven't heard of this lyrical master, then you havent really lived. (yes, I'm very fond of hyperbole, but this is the gospel truth!) Anis Mojgani is a spoken word artist, musician, and visual artist that continues to surprise, inspire, and impress me every time I see him. I was going to write this totally kick-A profile on the new love of my life:-) - but, looks like Ananda Osel of CommonLine E-Mag beat me to the punch.
Why re-invent the wheel?! Check out this great interview below.
Interview by Ananda Osel Common-Line E-MAgazine
We’ve all been urged to say something, to speak something dynamic into existence. To spit raw emotion from deep within our chests and off the tip of our tongues. We’ve all been impelled by this natural and ardent force… only to find that perhaps at that moment in time and space, the words were not with us. We lacked distinct articulation and rhythm of wit over diction. Later we find ourselves replaying that moment again and again in our minds.
Anis Mojgani is a spoken word superhero. His poems bleed pure energy into anyone who cares enough to open up and listen. Anis’ poems manifest the distinct articulation and raw emotions we’ve all wished we had at one time or another.
While listening to Mojgani’s poems I could not help but be moved- and to relate. That’s what grabs you about Anis’ work. He’s puts your emotions into his words, making them horrific and beautiful all at once. Whether from his powerful poem Shake the Dust, to the electric Rock Out, or the melancholy lyrics of Cradle, Anis grabs hold of your guts and gently earthquakes you to attention.
Anis is the current (2007) World Cup Poetry Slam Champion and the 2005 & 2006 National Poetry Slam Individual Champion (a back-to-back honor shared only by fellow artist Buddy Wakefield). He is also the 2006 Seattle Grand Slam Champion. Anis has been featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam, National Public Radio’s ‘The Beat’, and in the documentary 'Slam Planet: War of the Words'. You can also find his work in Spoken Word Revolution Redux and in the literary journal ‘Rattle’. And all of this is for very good reason.
-------- Ananda Osel: What sets your work apart from other slam poets?
Anis Mojgani: I don’t know. I really try not to compare myself to other poet’s work. There are a lot of poets out there that are coming from a similar place that I am, so in that regards there are slam poets out there that I can’t set myself apart from. I know its semantics, but if a poet doesn’t have semantics what does he have? I do think that if one goes to a slam that I’m competing in, some things that may seem different between myself and several other performers is that I try not to perform. I simply share a poem that I’ve written and open myself up to be allowed the same affect that hopefully it will have an audience member. I concentrate heavily on the written text and the image and respect the audience enough not to pander to them. I understand that no one’s going to get all that I’m saying, not even if they were reading it, so I try not to dumb in down cuz that doesn’t respect the craft nor does it elevate the audience.
Osel: What influences does your writing and performing draw from?
Mojgani: Influences aren’t currently in the bag, as I think that young artists have influences, older artists have inspiration. Of course that’s not a blanket statement, but at least for me these days that’s how it is.
Influences in my path: Jeffrey McDaniel, Richard Brautigan, Bukowski, Gregory Corso, Kerouac, MF Doom, Aesop rock, Robert Rauschenberg, Basquiat, Chris Ware, Frank Miller, Saul Williams, Whitman, Savannah, GA, New York, New Orleans, being broke, being a hermit, shoot the piano player, the Baha’i writings and history. Inspiration though is a more frequent occurrence, and comes from a variety of sources; other poets, art, comics, novels, movies, observing people, our country and the affect it has on its citizens. Flowers. Donuts. Moths. The moon. A good cheeseburger.
Osel: How much of your work comes from direct experience and how much comes from observation?
Mojgani: It’s a mixture. I try to keep myself open to observing people, trying to get a better understanding of how we as people act and react to certain situations. I think that the better understanding one has of human psychology, the more successful one’s art can be at communicating its intent. I try to take what I learn from observing and apply it to my own experiences, cuz when it comes down to it that’s the only person that I can know the most about.
You have been given a direct order to rock the fuck out. Rock out like you were just given the last rock and roll album on earth and the minutes are counting down to flames. Rock out like you just won both showcase showdowns. Rock out like the streets are empty except for you, your bicycle and your headphones. Rock out like your lips, which are placed onto a breakdancing muse with legs that go all the way up. Rock out like you’ll never have to open a textbook again. Rock out like you get paid to disturb the peace. Rock out like music is all that you got. Rock out like you’re standing on a rooftop and the city’s as loud and glowing as a river below you. Rock out like the plane is going down, there are 120 people on board, and 121 parachutes. Rock out like the streets and the books are all on fire and the only way it can be extinguished is by doin’ the electric slide. Rock out like it’s Saturday afternoon and Monday is a national holiday.
Rock out like somebody’s got a barrel pointed at your temple saying ‘Rock out like your life depended on it, fool,‘ because it does. Rock out like your eyes are fading but you still got your ears. But you don’t know for how long so rock out like 5 o’clock time, make pop-in-lot time. Rock out like you got pants full of tokens and nothing to do but everything. Rock out like you are the international ski-ball champion of the entire universe. Rock out like you just escaped an evil orphanage to join a Russian circus. Rock out like your hero is fallen and you are spinning your limbs until they burst into a burning fire of remembrance. Rock out like you’re enslaved in the south and dancing is all that you have to know who you are. Rock out like your dead grandfather just came back to take a drive with you in your new car. Rock out like the table is full. Rock out like the neighbors are away. Rock out like the walls won’t fall but, dammit, you’re going to die trying to make them. Rock out like the stereo’s volume knob is the figure 8 of infinity instead of merely numbers. Rock out like it’s raining outside and you’ve got a girl to run through it with:-). Rock out like you’re playing football! Football in the mud and your washing machine is not broken. Rock out like you throwing your window open on your honeymoon because you want the whole world to know what love is. Rock out like you just got a book published. Rock out like you just went to your high school reunion to find everyone, even the women, are all overweight and bald, except for the former homecoming queen, who you just found out, got divorced from her impotent husband and only has eyes for.. YOU! Rock out like you just got a date with Heidi Klum. Rock out like a shadow man passes behind you, drops you to your knees. You’re buckling in sweat, cold metal’s pushed to your forhead, the trigger’s pulled and the gun jams. Rock out like you got an empty appointment book, and a full tank of gas. Rock out like Jimi has returned carrying brand new guitar strings. Rock out like the mangos are in season. Rock out like the record player won’t skip. Rock out like this was the last weekend, like these were the last words, like you don’t ever want to forget how.
