Sonia Sanchez Poet Laureate of Philadelphia

RIP Steve Jobs

RIP Poet Ruth Stone

MALE GORILLAS 
At the doughnut shop
twenty-three silver backs
are lined up at the bar,
sitting on the stools.
It's morning coffee and trash day.
The waitress has a heavy feeling face,
considerate with carmine lipstick.
She doesn't brown my fries.
I have to stand at the counter
and insist on my order.
I take my cup of coffee to a small
inoffensive table along the wall.
At the counter the male chorus line
is lined up tight.
I look at their almost identical butts,
their buddy hunched shoulders,
the curve of their ancient spines.
They are methodically browsing
in their own territory.
This data goes into that vast
confused library, the female mind.


                                       Ruth Stone 

Def Poetry Jam - Saul Williams (Coded Language)

The Elements of Style

Poetry Blues: Helen v. Rita, Part 2

Head off & Split: Part 2-The review

Head Off & Split:Part 1

Poetry Blues: Rita v. Helen Part 1

http://bookhaven.stanford.edu/2011/12/the-bashing-of-helen-vendler/

English Preparation: Most beautiful words in the English language

If critics were God

Reading, writing, and reflecting

Def Jam Poetry - Common

It's All About the Details

Apps For Poets: iPad/iPhone Apps AppList

Apps For Poets: iPad/iPhone Apps AppList:

'via Blog this'

PoetGirl:

Humor

The recipe for one of those dog days when the Muse is antisocial and does not want to play.

Common and Maya Angelou at Happier Times

Illumination

i converse and rehearse thoughts with the universe
through my poetry
i slept with pen and paper on nightstands
poetic ramblings because the third eye
never sleeps nor slumbers
the spiritual heart never numbs.
Free souls speak with caged and free birds
as we break bread around hidden yearnings.
my pen is the ready writer
let there be light and it is so.
Illumination always crushes the dark.
                         
                                                kim g

The Power of Poetry

The artist known as I am Tasha Jones owns the stage like noone else

The Power of Poetry

"Actually, when I was in school, I guess I was about eleven or twelve, Mrs. Burke, my English teacher, challenged the kids to write poems. The best poems would be put on the board. My poem, A Song, was about what a song does to the human psyche. My poem stayed on the board for three to four weeks."

                                                                            Lamont Dozier
                                                                  legendary Motown songwriter

No more sleeping on Goapele

Roots and Wings 1.- Books for brown babies

Roots and Wings

Reading to your child develops listening vocabulary and your expression of the text helps the child comprehend.  The more children read, and are read to, has serious academic consequences. These picture text books are suggestions for  children from conception to 4 grade. 
1. Coretta Scott, poetry by Ntozake Shange, illustrations by Kadir Nelson
2.  The Beatitudes, written by Carole Weatherford, illustrations by Tim Ladwig
3. Ron's Big Mission, written by Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden, illustrations by Don Tate
4. Martin's Big Words, written by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Bryan Collier
5.  Happy Feet, written by Richard Michelson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Ten Seeds for the Seeds Part 1.

Carl Thomas CD

 I vividly remember riding to I Wish from the Emotional CD. The hip-hop beat and Carl Thomas' man voice were the perfect mixing for an urban classic. Carl Thomas has one of those rare throwback voices that remind you of crushed, black velvet. His voice exudes back arching powerful masculinity. In this teen driven music driven industry, artists like Carl Thomas have to fight for airplay. His latest release, Conquer is ready for the grown ups. Out of an offering of twelve tracks, I fell in lust with many of them. My favorites from the CD are Don't Kiss Me, It Is What It Is, which is an ode to those who understand the true nature of a situation:"He's calling you, but you here with me". On Sweet Love, he croons about making sweet love over and over again. Mr. C.T. had me whispering 'Yes'.  Running, is an inspirational tune, and I Do is for all hopeless romantics waiting for that special someone to pop the big question.  This CD can be compared to good, committed lovemaking that is nice, but not that FIRE. Carl Thomas' natural bravado and evocative persona will conquer the midnight hour.

Nikki Finney

NIKKY FINNEY WINS NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY

November 18th, 2011 - By MN Editor

Nikky Finney, South Carolina native and professor of English at University of Kentucky, has won the National Book Award for poetry. The National Book Award, which has been around since 1950, is an award given to writers by other writers. Each year the National Book Foundation gives awards to four writers, one for fiction, non-fiction, poetry and Young People’s Literature.

Another black woman, Jesmyn Ward, won the award for fiction for her work “Salvage the Bones,” a story detailing the lives of a family affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Finney’s award-winning  piece, “Head Off & Split” details the the history of South Carolina from segregation to integration and mental reformation, the latter expressed in a portion of the poem called “Dancing with Strom.” Strom being Strom Thurmond, the U.S. senator who was known for his views on racial separation.

Finney includes a 1948 quote from Thurmond in the poem’s foreword,

“I want to tell you, ladies and gentleman, there’s not enough troops in the army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and accept the Negro into our theatres, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches.”

But in his later years Thurmond’s views changed. So much so, that Finney, the daughter of Ernest A. Finney Jr., a former chief justice of the state Supreme Court, watched as Thurmond danced with her mother and other women at her brother’s wedding.

Other critics have received the poem, which reads like a series of short stories, well. Kwame Dawes, founding director of the South Carolina Poetry Initiative wrote that Finney “establishes herself as one of the most eloquent, urgent, fearless and necessary poets writing in America today.”

Shout out to all the cooks
who took time to tantalize us
Thanksgiving.

Arthur Ridgewood, M.D. by Frank Marshall Davis

He debated whether
as a poet
to have dreams and beans
or as a physician
have a long car and caviar.                                                
Dividing his time between both
he died from a nervous breakdown
caused by worry
from rejection slips
and final notices from the Finance company.

3-year-old recites poem, "Litany" by Billy Collins

Poetry Cartoon

She Speaks: anthology