Time is not patient
Life is not forgiving
And both are always running out too soon
I won’t waste my worries on the past
Or at least I’ll say I won’t
And I’ll try but if I don’t, who cares?
What-if’s and should-have’s
Are only pre-requisites for regret
And I don’t want too many of those to look back on
We are all our own hourglass
With tiny grains of sand for seconds
That still fall through even when we aren’t watching
We are not allowed to pick any of those pieces up
And move them back to the side that gives
We can only let them go, watch them settle but not change them
That, that is what life is right?
Decisions; sand grains that are heavy if you could hold them
Actions and thoughts that may be right or wrong but are still ours
Every moment in life is a potential what if
A should have.
A could of.
A maybe.
Every moment in life lived is also an already.
Hey guys! I hope you are all having a fantastic Friday! This is the last FWF of the year, can you believe it!??! A huge thank you goes to the talented Kellie Elmore for giving us such awesome content to use for inspiration. I hope next year is full of tons more motivation for us all! Thanks for reading/listening. I can’t wait to see what comes next for us all!
I attended a workshop a while back on honesty in a poetry performance. As writers, we tend to put the truth or as much of the truth as we can inside our work. As poets who perform, at times we get on stage and somehow the meaning of our writings gets lost in our presentation. The audience doesn’t feel the emotions we are aiming to bring forth because there is a disconnect between what we are saying and the way we are saying it.
The workshop facilitator, RJ Eldridge, asked us to define what honesty is. Among the various answers, someone stated something to the tune of “honesty is fact” (now, that is not word for word because I have terrible memory, but that’s what I got out of their statement). This prompted someone else to point out that honesty is not necessarily restricted to facts alone (and again this is not verbatim, just what I took from it). What I mean is, more than one person can experience the same event and have a different “truth” about it. These truths could quite possibly contradict one another and yet they exist.
As writers we put our experiences into words. As “performance poets” we take those words and share them with complete strangers who know nothing about us other than the things we share with them in about three minutes. When you lack honesty or vulnerability during that time all you do is cheat the audience and yourself. In my opinion, the best Spoken Word artists have mastered the art within the art of submerging themselves wholly into their words. They mean what they are saying because the words mean something to their lives. When I’m in the audience watching and listening to a fellow poet perform I’m looking for sincerity. Does this person look and sound like they understand what it is they are expressing to me? Do they believe or agree with their own thoughts?
I am still learning how to present my work in the most up front and honest way possible. I’m finding a really important step for me to attain that level of clarity with the audience is to have a moment (that brief, silent moment you see poets take once they’ve adjusted the microphone then step back). In that moment I don’t think about the words or the people in front of me. Instead I think about why I wrote the piece I’m about to perform. I picture the who, when or where it’s about in order to go back to the emotion that spurred the words. Whenever I do that I connect with what I’m saying and that’s when the audience connects with me the best.
I just wanted to share my thoughts on the topic. If you are a spoken word artist or thinking of becoming one, I hope you will remember to always go back to the heart of your words while performing. I know that can become increasingly difficult as we find ourselves repeating the same poems over and over on a weekly basis at times. It’s easy to let the words just flow out without actually listening to ourselves, but I believe it is important that we hear our thoughts as well when we’re on stage. Every time I don’t allow myself the chance to go back to the emotion or memory of the piece, I feel how different it is, how out of sync I am with what I’m saying. I could kick myself each time I do it, but the thing about performing is that it’s sort of trial and error. You learn the best way to move and be moved by your words by getting up there and just going in.
I want to leave you with the definition of honesty in performance by the super talented RJ, well, I may mess up the wording a bit but come on, you should know me by now!
“You have to surrender yourself to the truth of your writing.”
Thanks for reading! See you next time! Be sure to follow RJ on twitter @RJ_EL and keep up with all updates from me @talichaj
Letting go of love is a lot like that moment you learn how to ride a bike on your own;
The whole time, someone else has been there right beside you
helping and supporting you,
and isn’t that an essential part of love?
The support I mean.
And you feel different because you have them there,
more assured and confident.
Just the thought of them not being there is terrifying and absolutely impossible to imagine.
You know without any doubt that they are necessary to maintain your balance and peace of mind,
you believe that it’s the two of you together that enables you to be so brave and successful.
Thing is, you’re only fooling yourself because they let go a long time ago,
and it’s just been you, holding your on self up and moving your own self forward.
You’ll wobble for a bit at first when you realize they are not going to be there when you look back,
fear will make you believe the most absurd things sometimes, it makes you believe that you would not stay steady on your on, that you will not gain speed and become comfortable taking the lead by your self;
Fear is a liar
Letting go of love feels like that moment when I realized I was pedaling on my own,
doing something for myself.
And yes, it was scary, I zigged and zagged and wobbled,
but I never fell.
I supported my self,
and I think that’s an essential part of the best love,
of self love.
I hope you guys enjoyed this new poem! I may record it later since you guys seem to like the spoken word pieces I do. Thanks for reading! Check back for more or you can follow me on twitter @talichaj where I post all updates!
Did you miss my last poem “Just Be”? It’s okay you can read/listen here!
Happy November! I hope you guys enjoyed all the “poem of the week” features in October as much as I did! This month is going to keep that momentum going and I’ve got a great poem to kick us off! This week we’re going to read “Physicality” by Jess! I came across the work of Jess last week while reading through the poetry tag here on wordpress and I was drawn in by the honesty in her writing. I love finding poets that just capture my attention and reignite my passion for reading because I’ll let you guys in on a little secret; I’m not a huge fan of reading poetry. If you haven’t noticed a lot of the featured poems tend to be spoken word videos, but not today, today I’ve found a writer that makes me want to read!
Make sure you guys comment on her poem to let her know what you think! Also check her out on twitter @jessibabix33 and follow me as well @talichaj so you don’t miss next weeks p.o.w.!
The dark places
pull you below,
They grasp tightly
like weights on ankles
under water
They steal the air
from burning lungs,
And draw the screams
from tumultuous guts
The dark places
Relentlessly cast you in fear,
They convince you light has ceased.
It will never cease
When the darkness surrounds you
turn yourself into fire of determination
that equally lights the way
and sears the fingers of the dark that holds you.
Don’t you just love a random free write in the middle of the night? I have no clue where this poem came from, or even what it’s supposed to mean to me. However, I wrote it so I thought I’d share it in its raw form.
One day I’ll be back for you
One day I’ll be back for you…
We are not always meant to be
sometimes time has to step in between
And it hurts
The miles that stretch out in the space our hearts are supposed
to reside in goes on for days
I want to hold you
But I know it is not our era yet
One day I will kiss you and you will
Not taste the years we’ve lost
I will touch you and you will not feel
The way I grasp at you as though you are still
Only a part of my dreams
Instead you will feel warmth
And you will feel love
Because that is all I have for you
And one day I will come back to you, for you
Until then, live, love my love but never forget me
One day I’ll be back for you
One day I’ll be back for you…
Well, I decided to write this and record it in the wee hours of the night. So just like my last post “Laws and love” this one is pretty rough. Hopefully this too will be re-recorded but I still wanted to share what I’ve been up to with you guys. Thanks for reading/listening, let me know what you think in the comments. Feel free to tweet me @talichaj and I will see you guys next time! Have a great day 🙂
Happy Monday! I hope this week finds each of you well 🙂 I’ve decided to post a poem by a pretty well known poet, Andrea Gibson. Andrea has been such a huge inspiration and just a striking force to be reckoned with in the world of poetry. She writes with such a brutal yet beautiful voice. Although a lot of her struggles that she writes about are not directly related to anything I go through I always find a way to connect it with a part of my life. I could go on for days about Andrea’s work…I’m not kidding, however, I’ll just let you guys see for yourself how awesome she is in case you know, you’ve never heard of her before for whatever reason.
The poem I chose has no title listed, I came across it on her tumblr blog and really enjoyed it so i thought I’d share it!
It’s high noon. Sun blazing. You awake in a field and birds are pecking your skin… GO!
The attempt:
The alternative
I awaken.
sun beams.
sweat beads
drips, pools
around me.
Eyes dry
mouth dry
lungs coated
with dirt and
nature.
Flesh is pulled
pecked, pinched
between beaks
of birds that
take turns circling.
I am left for dead
after struggle for life
he told me to get out
so I did.
In the middle of the night
when it’s dark,
grass is cool
the dirt is a welcome
home mat
in contrast to his
brash voice booming
in economy rental car.
In the middle of the day
when it is bright
grass scorches
dirt strangles
in comparison to his
brash voice booming
in economy rental car.
I think I’m bleeding
I must be but I don’t care.
I’m bleeding.
I’m alive.
He didn’t kill me.
I’m alive.
The birds are pecking
and the sun is blazing
and the dirt is choking
and I’m bleeding.
He almost killed me.
But he didn’t kill me.
So the thing about free writing is that it’s completely random. You never know what exactly is going to come out. For some reason all I could picture was a girl, laying on the ground in the middle of a field being poked and prodded and yet she was not afraid. She gave off the vibe that she would much rather be here than her alternative. I imagined that for her this was the life option of “life or death.” She escaped something horrific and as a result she did not find fear or even anger or annoyance at her present situation. She took it as “hey, I’m alive, maybe one day this will make a funny story when it’s all over.” Anyways, I don’t know if it will make sense to anyone and I probably shouldn’t have spent so much time analyzing and breaking this down lol. So…yeah, I’m gonna go now! Follow me on twitter to keep up with all the latest @talichaj and make sure you also follow the lovely Kellie at @Kellie_elmore
Hey guys! I hope you all are ready to kick off another great week! This time around the poem I want to feature is by a poet named Abbie Shain. I couldn’t find to much about her except for a brief blurb on the button poetry site. I came across this video a while back and loved it. Recently I decided to scroll through my playlists again and this is what caught my eye. It’ s such a moving poem and she delivers it awesomely. I hope you guys enjoy!
Hey guys! So p.o.w. is back! If you don’t remember, or are too new to know what p.o.w. is, it’s the poem of the week. Previously, each week I’d showcase a particular poem here for you guys to enjoy. This time around I’m doing the same thing, however, I won’t really utilize my own poems. That’s right, I want to show you off because I follow some pretty talented poets! So leave a link to the poem you think I should put on display for all to see and I’ll choose the best of the best and post about you here and on my twitter, tumblr, and facebook pages!
Not a wordpress blog? That’s okay, you can still leave the link here or post it on any of my social network links above! If you aren’t a writer but know someone who is superbly talented and deserves some credit then by all means nominate them as well (of course with their permission). I can’t wait to share with you guys the first p.o.w. on Monday. Stay tuned!
Make sure you follow me, I’ll follow back so we can keep up with each other! See you next week!
I’m really excited about the progress I made today when I went for my jog. That’s right, my jog not wog (walk/jog) as I usually do. That’s because today I Jogged my first mile with no breaks, not a one stop or slow down at all and I didn’t feel like I was going to die! Sure about three quarters in I started to weaken mentally as my mind is not used to being so supportive of my physical endeavors for such a long time. Usually right around the half mile mark I’ve talked myself into believing I couldn’t just keep going and so I stop, walk for another half mile then jog again. Today I did not let my mind get the best of me. Each time I passed a quarter mile mark I told myself to just push. And so I did. I pushed past each marker with confidence and it felt great. For some, this does not sound like such a victory, especially those who are up to running over four miles a day, but to me this is amazing. I have never pushed myself physically. I have been overweight/obese practically my whole life. I always gave in before even completing a minute worth of jogging in the past. I didn’t believe I could do it. It hurt, I couldn’t breathe, I’d get a stitch in my side and that would be enough for me to call it quits. Not anymore, my legs burn on the hills but it’s a good burn, it tells me I’m doing something right. I’ve found my groove that allows me to breath evenly and automatically. I guess you could say I’ve learned to let my body do what it naturally does by just letting go and moving forward. And yeah I get that pain in my side every now and again, yes it hurts like h-e-double hockey sticks but I still keep going I push through it and it kinda becomes irrelevant.
I guess I say this as a reminder to myself months later when hopefully I have progressed to jogging multiple miles in one day with no breaks, that I have come a long way. That I am doing something that has made a difference in my life. And if I have not progressed I hope months later I come across this and remember the feeling I have about myself and my body and become re-motivated to get back out there. Of course I have no plans of stopping now!
To all the fitness blogs I follow, I may not speak to you guys often but know that you are all inspiring and before I go out each morning I check out your blogs for motivation. Thank you for sharing, hopefully I will be able to inspire someone one day too!
waywordbound.wordpress.com 