The mind, a dormant stone

Hola amigos... I am so happy to let you all know that Juan and I will be rocking tomorrow afternoon at Stories Books and Cafe in Echo Park! We are THE METAPHORS! That's right! We are rocking at A RRose in a Prose - a Literary Salon with DM Collins, Rick Lupert, and a many fierce cats! Photo by Alexis Rhone Fancher Sunday, Nov. 29th, 2pm - 5pm Free Here's the address:  Stories BooksandCafe 1716 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90026 Facebook RSVP:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1504957616467588/ THE METAPHORS on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/The-Metaphors-1521104531475896/?fref=ts A collaboration of sound and words from the Flute of Juan Cardenas and the word sounds of Poet Jessica Wilson. Juan is a cla ssically trained Flautist and Poet Teacher for California Poets in the Schools. Jessica is also a Poet Teacher for CPITS, and is celebrating the launch of her first book of poetry, Serious Longing , by Swan World Press, Paris, France. Together,...

I am super happy... and Juan gave me the great news, that the latest edition of DryLand Lit is live, and our poems are in it! A poem written over the driest summer I can recall... Power , was published in the Fall 2015 edition. http://drylandlit.org/2015/10/17/power/ I am very thankful to the editors for choosing this piece. It's also so amazing to be published alongside my beloved gentle word shark, Juan Cardenas! His poem of truth telling through immigrant eyes lay down the educational toxicity and belittlement shed on foreign children. Parthenia St Elementary  takes us into the uncertain shoes of elementary school. It is such an honor to be a part of the phenomenal literary richness of LA!

WOW! Happiness is burgeoning and ever so present! Today marks 6 years from the dream of taking action. I stepped onto the Venice Beach boardwalk with my good friend, Christina Granados, and took a stand on a crate, and read poetry. We took turns reading our poetry, standing up on the box, or passing out mardi gras beads with our info on it. That was the first SoapBox Poets Open Mic event! We invited others to join us... We felt that the box was a symbol of the people, coming together to hear truths. This was the step that brought Los Angeles Poet Society to the people of LA! I am so proud of this vision of ours, she is a beautiful 6 year old mama! We are still here and doing it!!! Today we are having our monthly SoapBox Poets Open Mic gathering at Beyond Baroque! It's going to be fun! We're throwing a anniversary/birthday party today, an annibirthday...and i have no idea what I will wear, read, or say... but I know I am ready! haha See you there, hermanos! http...

I was just thinking how great it is to live every year and really live. What I mean by this is that we can all experience different variations of the same day. We have all these opportunities ahead of us and things are mapped out differently each time. We we can't assume that our days will look the same, and we can't assume that each year, a certain holiday will be celebrated the same. W e have a traditions and this is great; this is our culture and our heritage. This is the way we teach our children. But it is OK for variations to exist, and it's OK to embrace them.  What an amazing life! I feel like I'm learning every day, and that's good! I should be learning; there should always be newness to discover. 😍 Happy Halloween, everybody!  Happy Day of the Dead! Embrace your loved ones and enjoy breath.  Peace and love!  Here are some pictures from my Halloween and holiday fun!