Here’s the next uncomfortable experience: writing and performing a poem in front of 300 people on stage, snapping and all. I am not an artsy-fartsy “let me read my journal” theatrical type, so this wasn’t my usual jam. Some notes on this one:
I had serious help from our pal Adam In-q. As many of you know, Adam is the savant of poetry who gets hired by the likes of Nike and Disney to recite his stuff. In short, I worked with the best in business, as well as the absolute kindest. @Adam, obviously, I love you! What a time. Like hiring a SEAL of dominatrix to whip your ass for BUD/S or whip your ass period, respectively, working with a pro is advisable.
Every Tuesday night, about 300 people gather to here open mic poems at this little theater in West Hollywood. I would say the average age is 20 years old. I missed the memo on wearing my high tops and black hoodie with bedazzled phrases, but that’s cool. Part of being in these uncomfortable experiences is knowing fully that you completely and patently stick out. Also, as soon as I saw about 200 people waiting IN LINE to get in, I thought, “Oh shit. Okay. Guess I have to do it now. Whatever.” You know you’re in an uncomfortable experience when you have the glaring moment that rings out something in your head like, “Nah. Don’t really want to do this. Nope.”
This theater isn’t amateur hour. Many of the kids who performed had OUTSTANDING prose, and the audience was equally outstanding in acceptance and lots of snaps. Lots of people have some intense stuff to convey, ranging from rape to suicide. I talked about talking to people on a bus, so a bit of a different flare, although I included rehab, single motherhood, salaries, and the like based on the conversations with people as showcased in my poem. Here’s a little piece:
So often we look at a person,
But we don’t see a face
We miss the character, the being
But we notice the race
We make a whole person at a glance
But a soul we never place
So what if you dismissed that
Dropped the guard, opened the heart
Here’s a really easy way:
How ARE you?
That’s a start.
Overall, mega thumbs up on this experience.