The mind, a dormant stone

Thank you to Jennifer Carroll for teaching me what Love was, how to show it, how to give it. Thank you to Anthony Greene for teaching me unconditional Love, and showing me that it is the single greatest gift any one human can give. Freely. Love is not perfect, often messy; and you'd have to be willing to get your hands dirty to make it right... Sculpt it...or care enough to try.

I wanted to write you a birthday poem, but all that came out were bubbles. Imagine that; a paper with fading lines underneath a soaking sud. The small round imprint teeters on its hump, pretending it's a letter trying to nestle between two lines. This is not the case friend, bubble. Your girth is grand and the liquid sliding down your gentle skin is much too heavy. You're out of place. Still...your day is now. Birth more bubbles out of yourself... sneeze and a few more can drop to the side. Wiggle and watch them grow independent. Blow the suds around to form more complex shapes, add some music for tempo. Suds like to dance around...singing " Happy Birthday, Sis! "! for cjm

This Los Angeles morning lends itself to rainfall dropping like pills, sliding down throats with steamy black coffee. Makes me proud to know this weather and greet this day...no make-up on. Same teared up cheeks from last night's drama, left little room for new melancholy. I just sit still to listen to earth's new noise. A continuum seeping without injury; hard to sustain. Don't burn the timbers in vain. Share your hands to lend warmth. It is in this pocket where humanity is cradled.

I do. And tomorrow, I will celebrate you! For cjm

Lost in this holiday spree...our chain broke in my hands. I think I pounded down with a stake while you refused to look. Then you pulled at the chain throwing it to my ankles when I was too stubborn to listen. Now we have separated. We acted. In result my sadness is not comforted without you, my friend. sistra.

But I love your soul And who you are, And I pray that days don't take away from the years we have left together. I hope to grow old Smile Be beside you Eyes closed, but hands held. That should always be us. For cjm

Can't make tonight's show!!? Tonight's reading at The Last Bookstore will be broadcast LIVE on our U-Stream!  Login at 8pm! http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ the-poet-s-soapbox Broadcast will proceed at 8pm PST. WRITE NOW! Writers' Row reading covered by KCET

December is a great month... marking many pivotal achievements made throughout the year. I am proud to state that Writers' Row will always remain one of my proudest moments, and I've been so pleased to host this literary tribute to the "Written Art", for the past two years...  Writers' Row found a wonderful home at the Last Bookstore. Chances are that won't be the last of Writers' Row and the Los Angeles Poet Society, paired up with the Last Bookstore, but will be at the moment.  Celebrate the year and your words with us December 19th! Our features to close out the year are Melissa Alvarado and Abel Salas. Our Special Guest for the evening is Poet S.A. Griffin ! It's often hard to construct what to say about S.A. because he is really awesome and just an honor to hear and see! Dr. Melissa F. Alvarado probably grew up in the smallest town in Nebraska and pursued a Doctorates in Pharmacy, but decided to pursue her love of writing poetry after the late an...

December 19, 2012 Los Angeles, CA: In 2010 I created Writers’ Row: Downtown Los Angeles’ Official Written Art Showcase. It began as a showcase of Writers during downtown’s popular monthly Art Walk. From this, interest grew, but a quieter space was needed. In 2011, I partnered with Peter Woods and the Last Bookstore. Their beautiful and historic venue provided a unique home to Writers’ Row giving it the nurturing it needed. While our tenure at the Last Bookstore is coming to a close for 2012, the New Year brings many hopes for the event as it continues as a quarterly salon, still in the heart of downtown LA at a private loft in the Brewery Artist Colony. I am exceptionally proud of Writers’ Row and what has been accomplished. Since its conception, downtown LA’s literary scene has continued to explode and build together as a solid network, with The Last Bookstore and Writers’ Row as a hub for organizing and coming together. This series has always been of no charge to the people, ...

So I've got a new attitude as they say... I'm much happier than I have been in such a long time. Today was an Alison day, and that meant we were heading to The Voice!

Through the lens.

We all shared a vision at the Mazatlan Theater in El Sereno... to stand as a united voice of Los Angeles in the doorway for change. Michael Rothenberg and Terri Carrion began the movement...100 Thousand Poets for Change. It gained worldwide momentum, created a united campaign for change. Michael said it well, " I don't know what your communities need. You do." Change is the urgency in our hearts, panic in our chests, that causes us to see a new way about the things that have been static for so long. 100 Thousand Poets gather arm in arm, finding strength in each others' words, missions, embrace, to fight on and propel change. The 100TPC road trip, from Santa Rosa to Florida, is a means to unify the agents of change; all of us. The messages that were shared at the LA meeting

political peer review policies of practical peer review pucker up here, por vous, por favor? please help where pockets piece together dreams poor, practically prepared to participate in pardoned things. please. hear me. pray possibly to harvest the punished, placing them properly above our heads. out of sight. isn't that right? isn't that right?

Abandonment is my curse.

I talked about the song. the doors and this song all night saying that it would be amazing to be able to sing it. "it's beautiful. I never heard anything like it.  wish you could hear it.  shoot." it was okay. you didn't seem to mind; we just enjoyed the moment. soon it was time to go and to kick off.. get going to a life we had when we first walked in. it was not easy to let go of; i think Jennifer knew. it was by luck we had two cars.  Jenn could go home and i could be with you. you were all i could think about. i thought ...you might be forbidden, but the feeling was too right to look back. you had to hear the song. its melody was amazing, and i said there is nothing quite like it. "it's better than Crystal Ship! (smiling ) "what!!?" (smiling) "it's better than Crystal Ship, or Blue Sunday... Here... you'll hear it.  get in." You got in the car, sorta impressed by my wheels... that was cute of you, b...

This was it. Halos over our heads, smoke rings of laughter. We exchanged names, songs, goals of the future.  You saw I was Europa, you shared your Griffin. There was future. More light beaming from our eyes, indenting our souls with a fondness for all things. "You write ? I draw. You karaoke ? Me too. Which song?" "The Doors. I love The Doors." "Me too. Which song?" "I really love Crystal Ship. That's my favorite." "Mine too...it's so beautiful. Oh my God, let's hear it!" I pulled out my phone, the songs were limited. We squeezed together to share the sound, toasted cigarettes, absorbing more of the moment. Then, we recognized each other.

Tonight we were destined to sit next to each other. Neither of us thought to look, only to listen to the music and enjoy a smoke. I retreated from my friend to mesh into the bricks behind me. I'd tap my head to the beats, wishing to conjure up music to feast on a nighttime lullaby. I just took control, like I always do. "Hey DJ. Do you have any Doors?" He nodded. "I don't want Light my Fire . Too commercial. I love it, but I want to hear Whiskey Bar , or Roadhouse Blues ...or Crystal Ship . I love that song." Then it played. I walked out to greet Jennifer and her panting civilians wanting a shot. She laughed. "Alright! The Doors are on! Woohoo!" More smokes, more lights shared under the sober moonlight. The crowd gathered around Jennifer, more lighters swapped pockets, and they laughed. A peering eye, and a lean forward, "Did someone say, ' Justin ' ?" We gave head shakes... "Ummm, no man." Well allllllrigh...

I had a dream... now let's see if we can get there.

Tonight was inspirational because when I'm low, you make me high. It's energy, community, a soul unique in that we all share the same zing that executes us to deliver our words to new meanings. The meaning felt behind your eyes, his eyes, her eyes. Us. You deliver me to a plateau that is typically beyond my reaching. You turn the macabre into love, hope into a charity that builds and builds until we all walk together, crossing that "bridge". Tonight showed me how names are all known, and faces commonly seen, but experience is what is remembered. Tonight we experienced one another, and now we'll remain family. ~Thank you, Writers' Row!   with humility, Jessica

Inside broken.

Join me in congratulating our winner, Tresha Haefner , of the Los Angeles Poet Society Summer Poetry Contest, sponsored by Writers' Row ! Tresha's poem, I Will Arise Now and go to Los Angeles , is honest with each line nurturing the next. The ending is like a soft melody that punctures you with truth, and inspires contimplation of the intricacies of this city, and our bonded human experieince. It also happens to beautifully answer this years' question: "Why did you come to LA?"  Thank you to all who entered! Please stay posted for the launch of the Los Angeles Poet Society web space where notable entries will be published! I Will Arise Now and go to Los Angeles After William Butler Yeats I will arise now and go to Los Angeles where the lip gloss is leopard print and the eyes of women shine like jewels waiting to be excavated from an urban jungle. I will arise now and go to Los Angeles where they sit on towels that have hundred dollar...

Seems to sum up the way I love and live ... gets tiring being so hardcore.

Live stream videos at Ustream Show begins 9/29/12, 11am PST!

With over 100 Poets representing the voices of Los Angeles, 100 Thousand Poets for Change/Musicians for Change, settles in the iconic and historic Literary Arts Center, Beyond Baroque in Venice, California. Our mic is no stranger to the struggle for representation of the “unseen and unheard”. We’re proud to be a part of worldwide history, as we unite and stand up for CHANGE! Schedule of Events 11am-11pm, Beyond Baroque indoor theater: 681 Venice Blvd. Venice, CA 90291 11am to 12pm: Open Mic for Change (arrive early to get on the list or RSVP venicesoapboxpoets@gmail.com ) 7 minute limit 12pm to 1pm: Luivette Resto  hosts poetry 1pm to 2pm:  Jessica Wilson hosts poetry from Jessica Ceballos, Jayson Pida, James Berkowitz, Lee Boek, Mike the Poet Sonksen, Apryl Skies, Cklara Moradian, Charles L. Davis, Jukio the CongaPoet 2pm to 3pm: Abel Salas hosts poetry 3pm to 4pm: Melissa Alvarado  hosts poetry 4pm to 5pm: Sean Hill hosts poetry and music 5pm to ...

C'est moi!

" If you are walking on broken glass, then it suggests that you will be experiencing some heartache or pain.�You are unsure with how to proceed with your life." ~from DreamMoods That sounds about right.  :/

This is the time of Justin. Indian Summer pressing my back to bleed. Pain breaks and drips arounds the nails of my toes to rub in the shine. A pressence of love less made; the ache of loss,or fantasy built around your life, dropped like an eggshell over a steel nail. Imprisonment of reality, you only live in dream or memory...while shadows of life lure me in to humble myself , trickery of tears to summon the pain. I trample through the sick cardio, raked beyond enjoyment and left less subtle. Your series of contradictions must end. I absorb you; fill on you. You channel me. I'm through.

Performers on Schedule: Alicia Winski Alicia Winski, born and raised in Los Angeles is a fierce poetic voice, spreading her wings across the west coast. With an impressive following in both L.A. &  Seattle, Winski is a poetic & provocative figure on page, online and on stage. She is Author of " Running On Fumes " a nd is an enthusiastic and dedicated addition to Edgar And Lenore's Publishing House as Editor of the Seattle division.   Alicia Winski possesses a craft that is melodic, brutally honest and oftentimes, quite sultry. Her words encompass strength, courage and a passionate perspective on life and love as seen through the eyes of a poet. She is currently working on her next collection of poetry, "Naughty Girls Dream In Color", which is anticipated to be released in 2012. Amanda LaPera Because of her family’s experience with mental illness, Amanda LaPera is a vocal advocate for individuals and families affected by mental illnesses....