Valentine’s Day Lonely Hearts Love Poetry Challenge DAY 5

You know that love letter/love poem you've been waiting for all your life?  Either the one that you did get or the one that has yet to come, will be a good enough attempt for poem number 5!  So let's get to it.




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Valentine’s Day Lonely Hearts Love Poetry Challenge DAY 3 (poem)

Day 3: Lonely Hearts Poem “First Glance”  

Hello again Lonely Hearts Poets!  Here is my little love offering of a poem for Day 3 of our challenge.  I'll post Day 4 as soon as possible and your Day 5 writing prompt will be up in a moment.  Let me know how you're doing so far on this challenge.  If you have writing prompt suggestions you should include those as well.  You can place your suggestions either in the comments section of my posts or you can email them to me.  Blessings and spred the love!!!  (Share, Rate, Follow!)

Reverb

by Ieisha McIntyre

Your voice, (water droplets on an upright basses strings.)

Lifts my attention from rapt conversation. 

Pulls my eyes up in search of the 

tone that has caused my breath to stop, and mind to wonder.

Something tells me that I have heard the echo of a prayer.

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Valentine’s Day Lonely Hearts Love Poetry Challenge DAY 3 & 4

Hello All! As I'm sure you've guessed by now that I missed my deadline.  So tonight I'll put up the prompt for both Day 3 and Day 4.

Day 3: "The first time"

Remember the first time you saw that special someone?  What do you remember first about seeing them? Is your first memory what they were wearing?  How you felt when you first saw them? What did you think when you first danced?  What did you think when you first heard their voice?



Day 4: "Close but not quite"

You know that person you were such close friends with?  The one you are certain coulda, shoulda, woulda been the love of your life if only?  Take a moment. . . Yeah, that person. I'm sure you know who they are.  Well, you know how you rehearsed over, and over, and over what you thought you would say if you ever got the nerve?  Well, now is your chance to say it.  But put it in the form of a poem.



Happy Writing Lonely Hearts!!



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Valentine’s Day Lonely Hearts Love Poetry Challenge DAY 2 (poem)

Sometimes we have to settle for just a line or two.  Something of a glimpse of a poem and let it sit.  So, that is what I offer you tonight. A glimpse.

After Sunset

by Ieisha McIntyre

After sunset.

In the summer.

The heated sand is welcomed.

It lingers over and warms the toes.

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Valentine’s Day Lonely Hearts Love Poetry Challenge DAY Two

Day Two all you Lonely Heart poets!  Here is the writing prompt for today.

Writing prompt:

 Dig out a photo of that lover who brings the fondest of memories to mind.  Or a picture of that favorite romantic spot real or imagined. Make this one sensory!!  Have fun! I'll post a mine or a portion before midnight!



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Valentine's Day Lonely Hearts Poetry Challenge:#1 (poem)

Valentine's Day Lonely Hearts Poetry Challenge:#1

Can you guess which song I used for inspiration?  I'd love to see your poems too.

Love Ready

by Ieisha McIntyre

Ready. 

I watch your eyes.

They flutter.

(winged birds.)

My heart palpates. 

(Butterflies crowding tree limbs.)

And I will trade all my freedom, to

the rush that lightens my soul.

Only you have brought me to flight. 

Made me ready.

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Valentine’s Day Lonely Hearts Love Poetry Challenge DAY ONE

Hello everyone!  Welcome to the first day of the Valentine’s Lonely Hearts - Love Poem challenge.  I hope you took some time to think about where you might want to start.  If you haven’t then I have a writing prompt for you.  

Writing Prompt: Think of your favorite love song.  The one that takes you back to that first true swell of love’s fire in your heart.  The one that makes you want to cry and laugh at the same time. Pinpoint those moments of bliss.  Don’t judge them, don’t qualify them, just BE with them.  Do your best to describe them and slap them together into a poem.

Feel like sharing?  Post a link to your poem on your blog! Feel free to comment on mine.  I’ll post before midnight, and post the prompt for tomorrow as well!

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The Valentine’s Day Lonely Hearts Poetry Challenge!

The Valentine’s Day Lonely Hearts Poetry Challenge!

I’m sitting here today looking over what poems I’d like to challenge myself to submit.  I have found myself most drawn to my love poems.  I am also struck by the realization that I am once again approaching African-American History month and Valentine’s Day. And, that I am again without a focus for my adoration, except for my adoration for poetry.  So, I challenge you who are out there, reading my blog, and willing to play along, to combat the lonely heart blues with poetry.  Excise your love angels and demons! Perhaps even gain the courage to send your poem on a postcard to anywhere, or as a message in a bottle, or tied to a ballon.  Who knows?!  The Valentine’s Lonely Hearts Poetry challenge will begin Feb. 1! Oh yes, and the challenge of course is to write one poem per day up to Valentine’s! I might even consider writing on through to the end of the month. We’ll see. I’ll post prompts just to give you a start if you need one.

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2010 DOUBT PERFORMANCE PHOTOS

2010 was quite a year of change and firsts for me both good and bad.  One of those firsts was my first roll in a professional play, in Gold From Straw's, Tacoma's new theatre company's inaugural performance of Shanley's DOUBT.  Here are the photos of myself and Marilyn Bennett! Oh and by the way, the performance earned me a shared nomination of The Volcano's Best Local Actress of 2010 and an amazing write up by The Tacoma News Tribune! Without further delay, I present to you, The Doubt photos!

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NEW YEARS EVE 2010

I just wanted to give a quick thank you to everyone who reads my blog.  We all seem to be a quiet bunch, but I see you on my stats.  I'd love to hear more from you in the coming year. And, I hope to give you more  creative work as well. I'm hoping to fit more arts events into this coming year. I'll keep you posted. I'm off to celebrate in a safe and sane way and I hope you all do too.  I'll be back with reflection tomorrow as I eat my black eyed peas.

HAVE FUN!!!






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African Diasporic Voices-ORIGINS

Wondering how the African Diasporic Voices page works?  Well let me tell yah. So far, I have listed one writing prompt, but that writing prompt has 4 phases.  And, that writing prompt asks you to take a look at the MOAD website.  The website will take you through the 4 phases as well, but I’d love it if you would share at least some of your poetic creations here as well.  Here is a piece of my origin poem, “Origin”. Just to get us started:

Origin

By Ieisha McIntyre

This is where we begin

--the root.

We spring from blackness

The black ness, the beginning place.  

The place of nothing. before

the place where all things come. together 

and from where all things are born . . . 

There is more to this poem. It will be in book form soon.  If you like it, let me know by commenting!  And please do take a moment and add your poem and a link to the rest of it.  Blessings!


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Church of The Apostles (COTA) DEC. 19TH Advent poem

     I know it is Christmas Day and everyone is with their families and loved ones, but I wanted to make sure that I put up my Advent poem that I wrote for COTA for Dec. 19th, 2010.  I was so honored to be asked to do so by Abbess Karen Ward.  It was a new experience for me.  Such a challenge! To read a passage from the Bible and then allow it to inspire forth poetry.  Which of course others have done many times over.  But it was new for me.  So, of course, I had to pray on it.
     I had a scribbled collection of cross-referenced notes that could have gone on for days. I could not believe that I was able to pull it all together in time.  BUT THEN! Of course, my printer was out of ink.  So my computer and myself went to the advent service.  Everything all worked out in time thank God.  Below is the passage and the poem.  Please feel free to comment and give me input.

Advent Dec. 19th COTA

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel,"

which means, "God is with us." When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Advent

By Ieisha McIntyre

We are all players in dreams

of our own creation.

Dreams rooted--

in our limited human perception,

spun from our limited expectations,

maintained--

through social condition.  

We walk through our mutually sustained worlds

holding up the walls

with our bias.

Prejudice as our mortar,

we maintain the integrity, 

Use tradition, and historical context as our decorative plaster. 

But they are just walls 

and we are still dreamers.

Dreamer, know this,

When kissed by the call to awaken -- 

The vision that is life can become

a seeming nightmare;

a conflicting reality that tortures

a mind desirous

of a status quo existence. 

A call that insists we

Release the dreams we clutch to,

cling to, blind ourselves with;

In resistance, we stop up the passages of our ears, 

Barricade the doors of our imagination

with the expectations of others--

All, to deny ourselves the call.  

Of course we question -- But, 

The reality may be a hurdle worth jumping. 

The storm a torrent worth braving.

We must open our eyes to see.

Yet, A dreamer interrupted can never return

to the previous pulse--

there is always the arrhythmia

of an interrupted dream.

Consider--

Forced slumber makes convict

those with outmoded dreams.

Trained expectations become chains;

Rules of thought the inquisitor.

We fear, we cringe and

cower at the freedom given to us. 

We see awakening as the prison.  

We realize we have been people in a dream. 

And we listen to the call -- suspicious.

The choice is ever present; And, should we choose

we listen, 

we move

beyond the walls and

act on faith.

One must trust in the unseen--

the untested--

the undreamed of-- 

trust that the new reality will not release upon

the dreamer an unmanageable hell.

The Word invites awakening. 

-- to experience divine interruption, 

to have our dream world invaded and gifted

with new life direction.

Awaken. 

The new direction is more than we could ever dream,

The invitation is there in The Word.

And, the Choice 

ever present.

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S.W.I.N.K: A WORD OTHER THAN SPINSTER

From Spinster to SWINKY SWANK!

Hello world! I have long introduced myself as a “spinster.” Whether subconscious or not, I know that is what I’ve done. I never wanted to use the word “spinster.” But now, well past 30, I’ve had to confess that in the past I’ve more often than not fit the definition of a spinster.  I’ve let that go, but there was just no historical way of getting around the word.  I’ve thought and prayed and thought so more and here is my gift to you all the single women out there who are single, sexy, haven’t found a partner or just plain aren’t interested in handing over their independence.  I am no longer a spinster! And neither are you!  I’m a S.W.I.N.K who is S.W.I.N.K.Y.  and when need be, I’ve got some S.W.A.N.K to me as well.  HOLLAH! Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!!

S.W.I.N.K = SINGLE, WOMAN, INDEPENDENT,NO, KIDS

S.W.I.N.K.Y= SINGLE, WOMAN, INDEPENDENT, NO, KIDS, YOUTHFUL

S.W.A.N.K = SINGLE, WOMAN, ASSERTIVE, NO, KIDS

* and if you want to be S.W.A.N.K.Y just add the youthful nature to it.

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Seattle Slam Open mic "Mother Butterfly" by Ieisha McIntyre (aka) Lotuspapillon

  I went out to the Seattle Poetry Slam and decided that I would ask a stranger for a hand. It all worked out. I decided to read the poem that I tightened up at this year's LItFuse 2010 (a poet's workshop) with help from Tara Hardy.  Here's a new video. Take some time and view it. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.




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The Solo Book Club-"For Colored Girls. . ." by Ntosake Shange (meeting #1)

          So, I promised that I would continue to share with my solo book club and I plan on keeping my promise.  I have to say that re-reading “For Colored Girls. . .” was very much needed.  I haven’t seen Tyler Perry’s movie yet. I’m not certain that I want to spend the current price of a movie ticket on it.  I just don’t want to be disappointed and out of spending change in the same moment.
          So what parts struck me as more familiar now than when I was eighteen? Well I would have to say the entire choreoplay. Especially, the speech of the “lady in red” on page 13-14 of the Scribner/ Simon and Schuster edition.  “without any assistance or guidance from you/ i have loved you assiduously for 8 months 2 wks & a day.” The way that she addressed her lover.  She courted him with cards, plants, letters, poems, drove to meet him; all as a test of herself. Who's done that? I have. “i want you to know/this waz an experiment/ to see how selfish i cd be/ if i wd really carry on to snare a possible lover/if i waz capable of debasin my self for the love of another.” 

           I wonder, how often female courting is something that happens for women of other ethnicities?  How often does an asian, hispanic, caucasian woman feel pressed to compete to the level of courtship? To test themselves?  How is it that we have come to the place that the brideprice is paid by the high-achieving bride?  How do we as a people continue to advance, if marriage and family is no longer a means of support and advancement? No matter what side of the subcultural political landscape of “black americanness” you stand on, no matter what you think black men are or what black women are, Ntosake Shange’s choreoplay does not misrepresent what many of us can find proof of in our lives or in the lives of our friends.  That there is turmoil in the heart of many of our families, and most of our communities.  And, that this turmoil often takes operatic tempo.
           As I’m writing this posting, my opinion is coming into focus.  Clearly,  “For Colored Girls. . .” should not have been a film at all.  It should have been an opera of the proportion and depth of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess”. Perhaps that will still happen.  Who knows? Someone should call Jay-Z. (to be continued.)

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The Solo Book Club-"For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf" by Ntosake Shange

If you've been following along in with my Solo Book Club then you have had a chance to enjoy some of the poetry of Lucille Clifton.  I've now decided to move into a re-reading of Ntosake Shange's choreopoem "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf."  Now I know this choreopoem has recently come to more of a broad exposure that it was previous.  And if you watch the video that is linked here under Ntosake's name then you will learn that previously her choreopoem has been handed down from mother or aunt to daughter.  However, in true "solo" fashion, I found this choreopoem in my high school library while looking for a play for my senior monologue.

Of course, at the time, I believed that I understood the major issues of the play.  Of course, at 18, I was wrong and understood nothing.  As most 18 year olds; even the mature ones.

In the past few years I've troubled myself and worried myself that I did not have audition material.  The truth was, I just couldn't find something that fit with my gut enough to carry it around.  As I re-read "For Colored Girls. . . " I'm going to see if again, sits well with my gut.  Who knows, I may finally find the audition piece that sits well with my gut.


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The Solo Book Club- "them and us" by Lucille Clifton

Get familiar with the Solo Book Club .  The poem "them and us" Lucille Clifton says so much about the difference between the black and white american mindset.  The power of fame.  The artists to whom we give our allegiance.  So much commentary  in 15 lines! Recognize!


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The Solo Book Club- "june 20" by Lucille Clifton

Ms. Clifton's poems are utterly amazing.  They seem to fold time and space.  How can she force into our minds so much in so few lines?  Her work is poetic gospel.



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The Solo Book Club- "climbing" by Lucille Clifton

WOW! I just finished the first poem of "The Book of Light"  "climbing" and I am blown away!  I can't believe that so much can be said in so little. I just could not believe the use of words.  So accurate, so precise.  And, the images are exactly what I feel now as a woman in her mid-thirties.  All the maybes, all the "should haves", and I'm still hungry.  But, now I am hungry for a time when I am fed by what I do have and not by what I don't think that I have.  If you can dig that, lemme know.

Blessings!


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The Solo Book Club

So often we start a book alone.  And, even though it is a book obviously found by others previous to ourselves, we are overjoyed, enraptured, and certain that we are the first of at least our circle of friends to REALLY love this book. We clutch at the book, let our fingers become intimate with the folds of its pages and the texture of the cover.  We open ourselves up to the possibility that this book may be a new love.

I know book clubs are popular.  I suggest book clubs to others, but I am horrible at them.  I just don't like to share.  But I'm trying to break myself of that selfish greed.  I've decided to start with a book of poetry by Lucille Clifton (1936-2010) and her book The Book of Light.  I'll keep you posted on the poems I like, the questions I have, the thoughts that are sparked.

If you would like to read the book of poetry as well, You are welcome too.  If you would like to share your thoughts, you are welcome to.  If you would like to leave your comments and share my comments with others, please do.

I'll be back in a bit with my feelings about the first few poems that I've read.


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