Like Water, Like Son

This is a poem that I recently performed at a charity event raising money for an orphanage in North-Western Thailand. The story behind the poem can be found here. The video is of the actual performance, it's not without its flaws, there are a handful of tiny changes I would make if I could do it again, but overall I'm pretty happy with it, so check it out, lemme know what you think! And the words are down below.  PEACE! 

Like Water, Like Son 

       
We have to be more careful
with this power that we wield
over every living child
whose fate has not been sealed
whose life still has a purpose
that has yet to be revealed
We have to warn them of the darkest parts
and be their human shields
teach them all about the world
and the greed that it instills
show them there’s two sides to life
and each and every thrill
Cuz kids are like cups
just waiting to be filled
you should know that every drop
you put in is gonna build
a bridge to this feeling
a link to some sensation
in no time they will be reeling
between peace and titillation
with no idea that life is stealing
the most Pristine Natural Formation…

The Mind of an Innocent Being

…free from fear’s indoctrination

Free from that persistent feeling
that we live in suffocation
free to feel their own souls breathing
without the heat of condemnation
free to know the healing powers
of their childish elation
Free to Be a Human Being…

before the bullshit’s saturation

before the mind hits maturation

and they don’t believe in anything
besides success and masturbation
at the expense of everything

…the world’s bastardization

We don’t talk to children enough
we still don’t talk to our kids about love or sex
we don’t talk to our teens about rape
we don’t talk to our sons about arrogance
we don’t talk to our daughters about strength
like we don’t want them to know how strong they could be

we hardly ever explain why we do what we do
like they don’t need to know…like we don’t even know
like there’s no meaning in any of it

Our denial
Our fear-laden inability to be honest with ourselves stops us
from being honest with them

about the most important things

our weaknesses throughout life
our struggle within
our regrets
and all those fears
that we couldn’t even put into words until our early twenties

…and so the weaknesses of the father are visited upon the son
over and over again

I see it all the time
I know a father who has never acknowledged the scars on his own daughter’s wrists
I know a father who has never spoken the word love to any of his children
I know a mother who has never talked to her son about why he ran away from home
…like it never happened, even though it changed everything

How can we protect em if we lie to ourselves
How can we prepare them for reality, when we can’t even face it

We have to be more honest with them
about what we believe and what we’ve learned
and what we have no fucking clue about
before they miss the point of all of this
so caught up in what they’re “supposed to do”
and they think what they have on the outside
is more important than what’s in here

Let’s be a little more aware
of this cycle that exists
of the echoes it puts out
and the way that it can twist
every thing we never say
into tiny catalysts
that cause our kids
to think it’s normal
to solve problems with their fists
to live a life that’s nothing more
than a number on a list
and distrust every single difference
til no one can coexist

We’re like water,
WE’RE LIKE WATER
you can treat this like a fact
because whatever you put in
I promise you will get it back

we’re like water, we’re like water
and kids are the clearest springs
and whatever WE put in them
is what the future brings

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The Dine in the Dark Poem

Last week I had the pleasure of performing a couple of times. Most notably I performed at Dine in the Dark for the third time. They hosted an event for World Environment Day and had representatives from the UN and pretty much every green industry around Thailand at their tables, and even had em up giving speeches in the dark. Imagine that.

Benjamin, one of the owners, knows I write about such things as world affairs --environmental, social, and otherwise -- and invited me to contribute to the night. I was happy to accept, of course; this topic is much more my element than the last time, and it had been a while since I last worked with them.

Well, in addition to doing an environmentally friendly poem (which I will post in another blog HERE), they asked me to do this poem which I wrote for them a couple months ago now. It is THE Dine in the Dark poem! Possibly the ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND!! Lol. It was just somethin fun I decided to TRY and do after experiencing Dine in the Dark myself. I thought the experience was hella unique and I dig the social awareness aspects of it, so I thought I would try and capture all that in a poem, one that they would hopefully like and be able to USE. Contribute to the cause. At the time I thought it would turn out to just be a cheesy poem that wouldn't hold much water outside of this context, and I was okay with that, just thought it would be cool to do so I DID. But it turned out or turned into a pretty nice poem. Much to my own surprise. And everybody seems to like it, so...yay for me! ;)

I posted it on their facebook page once I finished it and designed it to look all snazzy and cool, which is not something I'm really good at, but I guess I'll...I'm not sure what I'll do. I thought I'd post that version of it here, but blogspot kind of shrinks it and it's hard to read, so...I think I'll just post both, text and picture, so you can see what I mean AND read it with ease. :)

OH, so I performed this for the first time at the restaurant to a roomful of people (30-40) IN THE DARK, and it went down really well! It was fun, it was cool, I was happy. The people seemed to really click with it, they got the jokes, so the piece definitely works. And I'm already lookin forward to do it again the next time they call me in. Here it is. If you haven't seen it, lemme know what you think. And if you haven't dined in the dark yet, I suggest you get on that too! ;)

The Dine in the Dark Poem

Be led into the darkness until your mind is full of light
Follow a man with four senses as he turns you left and right
Consider what life would be like if you really had no sight
Let go of your old fears of what is hiding in the night

Step forward, take your seat, feel what is in front of you
Sit in anticipation and give welcome to the new
Every movement you make is a thought you follow through
and soon you’ll cut your food up just like you did when you were two

You have made a reservation to turn off your reservations
and open up your senses to a sense of exploration
Taste and smell will lead the way on this rarest of occasions
as your mouth secretly indulges in the rush of information

Cease your eyes from searching for the momentary spark
Take comfort in your company and the humorous remarks
Even if the mess you made is the only way you leave your mark
that is just another part & joy of Dining in the Dark

Enjoy this memorable dinner until the final savory bite
New perspectives on old things often give us new insights
so notice when you walk out you'll be feeling VERY bright
Tonight is the night on which the blind will lead the blind to light

.

The Blessed World of Breasts

A poem written for a charity event, raising funds for breast cancer. The story behind it is HERE. As I said at the event, please don't let the silliness of my poem detract from the seriousness of the issue.

It's meant to be read with quite a bit of sincerity (to make it all the more cheesy), and a beautiful (busty) woman at hand. For me to make suggestive hand motions towards of course, and maybe rest my head upon. ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Blessed World of Breasts

3-12-12

Oh how we do so love our breasts
those objects of pleasure to which we’re obsessed
or the softest of places on which we rest
our heads when they are full of stress
and relieve us from all of this unrest
like we’ve been placed inside a nest
and there’s no reason in the world to be depressed
because...how bad could the world be….
if we have breasts
 
I still remember the success of my first quest
to find my own sucken treasure chest
and the joy it brought I could not suppress
since the coming of which was....so quickly expressed
But it is not the joy of tatas I’ve come to undress, I mean Address!
Address...It is not the joy of tatas I've come to address
It is on these mounds of love I’d love to attest
and I hope to speak on their behest
while holding on firmly....to their interests
 
Although it may seem I speak in jest
I actually stand in earnestness
and hope with my words to impress
the dangers of some cancerous pests
that threaten to deflate those lovely life vests
with a mess of pain and much distress
towards which we should all share detest
and unite in the name of....breast cancer awareness
 
So don’t be afraid to suggest or request
to your family, bosom buddy or a love-interest
to take the proper steps to stay abreast
of whatever’s going on inside their chest
because ladies it doesn’t matter if you’re blessed
with a little more...or a little less
what matters is if your breasts can pass the test
of a breast exam and a good doctor’s caress
because it's healthy breasts....that are the best
 
And at last we should give thanks to every guest
who came here tonight from east and west
and have done far more than you could guess
even found the time & money to invest
in putting....BREAST CANCER to rest
an independent media team shot a little news report on the event, they included part of my performance (1:19), pretty cool stuff all around though.

I ♥ BOOBIES!!

So last night was PRIT-TY cool (no longer last night). Actually, that's an understatement. It was HELLA FREAKING COOL! And the things that I'm doing with my life and making happen blow my mind. :)

Last night was a fundraising event for fighting breast cancer, organized and executed by a beautiful and vivacious friend of mine named Wim. I met Wim thru facebook last year and took a liking to her immediately after reading her blog which had me laughing one quip after another. I sent her some of my stuff, she liked it, we bonded, met for lunch, it was cute, moving on.

(what a team!)

A few months back she organized another charity event (her first) and sweetly asked me to write something for it. The idea definitely piqued my interest. And I'm at a point in this whole "Ima poet" thing where I'm ready to start accepting new challenges, such as "Hey you! Write me something about this. Make it snappy."

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh, okay."

This is something I've never really welcomed before, "taking requests," creating something ON Demand, with will power instead of pure inspiration....providing an actual service beyond rifling thru my catalog of old poems and finding one to slap on the situation like a bumper sticker! It hasn't been until this point in my life that I feel THAT "in control" of my art that I could do something like that. Oftentimes writing a poem is like trying to call a cat to you. Sometimes it just looks at you and goes, "Ehhhhhhhh, I'm gonna go over here." To which you respond, "FUCK YOU POEM!" And that usually goes on for about an hour without much success.

"GET--ON--THE PAGE!"

But she asked and I said I would try and (Thank God she gave me like two months notice) sure enough, a week before the event, a poem jumped outta me. The topic at hand was Strong Women (bulging biceps optional) and I ended up writing one of the craziest (and longest) poems in my collection, on a topic I never dreamed of writing a poem about: Women in Ancient history. ??? WTF? Lol. Why not?!

(spoutin off at the mouth to a crowd of people about ancient history...you know, like ya do!)

Long story short tho, it turned out well. And it was a REALLY cool experience. I never shared it with you on here, or anywhere outside of that event but it went well! (I'm really skeptical about how well it works on the page, it's really meant to be spoken, so I never put it on the blog, but I am trying to think of a way to put it to video for ya) And then THIS event came along.

When she first got behind the cause, I was like cool. I pitched in my support. I dig her energy and think she can really do somethin with it. When she announced the event, she jokingly said to me "Breast Poem, KJ? lol" (or something like that) and even as busy as I was, the idea didn't sound too bad to me. But I just took it as a joke, and put it on the shelf for later. But as soon as I really thought about it (a couple weeks ago) I knew immediately it would be a FUN poem to write. I could hear it already just like that. And I don't get too many opportunities (cuz I just don't ever push myself to) to write fun poems, so I was like "Woohoo, BOOBIES, I gotta give this a try!"

Weeks go by, life goes by, busyness becomes a mainstay cuz it's the end of the school year annnnnnd that leaves me NO time to do shit for ME. I.e. WRITE, i.e. ponder, i.e. Make Cool Shit! Til the night before the event! I figured it was too late, but I also figured there was hope.
It was my last day of classes, so I was finally off the hook for grading (for a couple days) and I could FINALLY take some time to myself. In the back of my mind I was like "Hey, maybe I'll sit down and give that poem a try tonight." (it's so weird but cool, the thought of scheduling a poem!) But then I even forgot about it and tried to make dinner plans with Prang. Thankfully she was busy. And as the sun sat, I remembered--"Oh yeah! Me, writer, poem"--Kinda halfheartedly tho cuz I was feelin lazy, but then I remembered how cool it would be to do a poem in Bed Supper and so I got back on the computer and started punchin away at it. And it came along, just like that. Three hours later I was messagin Wim like Paul Revere! "The Boobies are coming, the boobies are coming!" Or something like that. And it was done.

I really didn't wanna force my way into the night or anything like that, I felt pretty self-conscious, I had no idea how much they'd planned or put into it, and I certainly didn't wanna upset the apple cart over my last minute bullshit. If it's not broke, DONT FIX IT, ya know? But I thought if she really liked it, then it would be up to her what to do with it since I wrote it for her/her event anyway. It is JUST a poem, if it can make the night better, cool, if not, no problem. Totally up to her....and she made it happen! TWAS SO COOL! The whole event, so awesome to be a part of it, and it seemed like people really liked my addition so it made a difference! WOO-Freakin-HOO!
I got lots of nice responses to it afterwards. An older man came up and wanted me to email it to him so he could send it on to a friend of his who's surviving breast cancer. Thought she would really like it. That makes me smile REAL big! To think that there will be people somewhere in the world who are fighting this fight and might get a kick outta some words I barely had a chance to put together. How cool is that!? Really nice.

thought it might help drive the poem home if I had a beautiful (busty) woman there as an example :)
thanks Nan!

Anyway, that's the story pretty much. I'm happy to contribute. It would be ingenuine to suggest I'm personally involved in this cause, I'm not. While other cancers have, breast cancer specifically has never touched my life. But I care about all that I can, including what my friends care about and I like to help! Especially in the form of POETRY! I'm thrilled to show people what poetry can do and how fun it can be. The reception I got there was far better than anything I would've EVER expected. They liked it, they really liked it. I'm still cheesin out when I think about it. :-D

Thank you Life, thank you cool peoples who were all up and involved in this event and Bed Supper Club for hosting it. Wim/that event raised over 2 thousand dollars in a couple hours. Cash. (I helped count!) Pretty frickin cool. And it all goes to Thai women receiving treatment that they can't or can barely afford. And needless to say, that money goes a lot farther here than it would back home. Chh-ching.

Here's the poem. Wim posted part of it on her blog already and gave it a title, somethin I hadn't even considered at that point, so I think I'll borrow some inspiration from her title and go with "The Blessed World of Breasts." That's got a nice ring to it. Though, in my own head, I think it'll always be secretly titled, "I HEART BOOBIES!!" ;-)