Friday Follies 28 NOV 14

Someone asked me why I think Bill Cosby is a rapist. I asked them given what we know, what are the odds that he's being falsely accused? They didn't know, so I calculated it for them. To be "fair" to Cosby lets only count the 14 women who were willing to accuse him under oath. Also to be "fair" to him, let's assume that the rate of False Accusations of Rape is the 40% that some Men's Activists claim it is. (I'm not endorsing this number, just trying to be as fair as possible.) To compute the odds that he is being falsely accused we would need to multiply .40 times .40 a total of thirteen times. This gives us 0.00000268 which we multiply times 100 to give  .000268 which is the percentage chance that Cosby is being falsely accused. Or to put it another way, given 14 independent accusations of rape and a 40% chance that any one of them are false, there is a 99.9997% chance that Bill Cosby is a rapist. I understand that math is hard for some people, so feel free to read this as many times as you wish. And if you continue to defend him I'll feel free to give you as many sideyes as I wish. Because now you know. 

And until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

Friday Follies 21 NOV 14

Eye stinging wind-

NYC man shot 

stairing while black

Ebb tide

almost too far out to see

Daddy's ashes

Grammar Lesson-

The blood of a black boy 

lays in the street. 

It does not lie.

And until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

Tuesday Tidbits

November rain

suddenly far straighter

her hair

And until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

Tuesday Tidbits

So I got this app that lets you make comic book or graphic novel type panels and I've been playing around with using haiku and Senryu to create graphic poems. We'll see where this goes. I really like the above poem and the picture of Warhol helps make it work, in the original poem Warhol's name is in the title. 

One thing I don't like is that the Captions don't let you use Caps or Quote Marks, so I'm not sure that the fact that this is a song title comes through. 

Friday Follies

Tuesday Tidbits

And until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

Friday Follies

Wind turbine-
She loves me she loves me not
she loves me

 "Girl, he called me again last night" she said to her girlfriend sitting one seat beyond her, "but I'm not going let him know what's up yet. "He's fine, but you know how boys be doing." Her friend nodded and chimed in "Tell me about it, you let them know how you feel too fast and they be trying to take advantage."
 I was riding a New Jersey Transit bus out to Hamilton Mall on a semi-crowded bus that included these two young women, one of whom I recognized as a Cashier at an AC casino on the Strip, maybe Resorts or Revel. It was Summertime and the sun flowed through the bus windows like water through a hole in a ship, giving me plenty of light to read "The Northside" a hardback history of black folk in AC written by the same cat who penned "Boardwalk Empire." I had just glanced up to check the progress of the bus as I have a long history of missing my Stop while reading, sometimes not noticing until the bus reached the end of the line. I wasn't easvesdropping but caught that last snippet of conversation and turned to face them.
"What's up Poker Player, you all right?" she said to me, recognizing me from my frequent late night cash outs after poker sessions. I remembered her name as Adena.
"Aint nothing' I responded, "Just going to the Barnes and Noble"
"I see you over there all lost in that book" she said "Like you aint know nobody."
I laughed, "Yeah, I get like that when I'm reading, the whole world disappears."
"That must be a good ass book then" her girlfriend chimed in.
"It is." I said "It is, it's about black folk in AC going way back, by the dude that wrote 'Boardwalk Empire."
"That was a book?" she asked.
"Yeah" I said "But I haven't read it though."
"I watch the show all the time." her girlfriend said.
"I watched the First Season." I said
The bus groaned to a stop to discharge an elderly woman and a toddler.
"I see yall talking about boys." I added
They both laughed "Of course" she said rolling her eyes "What else would we be talking about? You know how yall do."
"Do you want some advice?' I asked her.
"Yeah, whatever." she replied.
"I think you'd be way better off letting him know how you feel up front."
They both looked at me like I had just suggested that they ride butt naked on top of the bus in a blizzard.
"What?" she said, "If you let a boy know how you feel right away he just gonna try to play you like a hand of Spades"
"Uh Huh" he girlfriend cosigned.
"Exactly!" I said.
"Huh?" they both said in unison, "You bugging, That don't make no kind of sense."
"Actually, it makes the most sense." I said.
"I aint gonna just sit there and let somebody take advantage of me." she said.
"Exactly!" I said again.
Now they looked really confused, like I was speaking Yoruba or something.
"Look" I said "Any dude that's trying take advantage of you is a predatory asshole who isn't somebody you want to be in a long term relationship with."
"Of course, that's obvious." she said.
"So," I said "Why not find out right away, before you invest a bunch of time and emotions into him?
"Once you peep his game you can just bounce."
Her girlfriend objected, "But they only going to try you if you let them, if you show them you aint going for it then they aint going try that with you."
"Not at first." I said, "But an asshole is an asshole, it's going to come out eventually."
"I don't know" she said "It's different for yall than it is for us"
"Sure" I said "But look at it this way, is communication important in a relationship?"
"Of course!" they chimed in harmony.
" Is trust important in a relationship?"
"Of course!" they chimed again.
"So" I asked "Why you starting off with a dude not being honest in your communication and not trusting him?"
The bus hissed to another stop.
"Well, once you get to know him of course you'll be honest then." she said "But you gotta see if you can trust him first."
"Yeah", I said "But what kind of foundation are you setting? And anyway how a person acts when they think they can get away with something is who they really are." 'Why not find that out from Jump Street?"
"You crazy" Her girlfriend said "I aint going out like that."
"Ooh girl, look." Her friend pointed out the window.
"What?" Adena asked, craning her neck.
"Two people over there minding they own business" her girlfriend said.
We all busted out laughing.
"Wasn't you reading a book or something?" she asked.
"I was in fact." I admitted, "I was, but my stop is coming up anyway."
I stashed my book in my backpack and uncoiled my six foot frame.
"I'll catch yall later."
"Bye" they waved.
I ambled off the bus and turned my head to avoid the dust clouds following the bus down the highway.

About nine months later, I was leaving the Revel Poker Room to cash out my remaining $26 from the $400 I started with. it had been a brutal night and I was exhausted. I waited my turn in line with my eyes closed and then slowly pushed my few chips through the window.
"You must have had a bad night."
I looked up, it was Adena, the girl from the bus the summer before.
"Bad?" I said "Bad would have been an improvement. It was brutal."
"How have you been?"
"I'm good" she said smiling her work smile.
"How did that thing work out?" I asked.
"What thing?" she queried.
"With that guy you were talking to." I said.
"Oh, him?" she said, "I been done forgot about his sorry ass."
"He was cool at first, but for real he wasn't shit, just like most of yall."

She smiled.
I laughed, "How long did it take you to find that out?"
She looked down and away, "Too long" she said "Too Long!"
"Anyway I'm seeing somebody else now."
"I was just talking to my mother about what you said on the bus." she added,
"At first she agreed with me, but then she thought about it and said maybe you got a point and she wished she had thought of that when she was younger."
"And what do you think?" I asked.
"Both of yall crazy" she laughed "Both of yall!"
"But I'm going to keep it mind."
"Alright' I said as I faced my bills and walleted them.
"I'll catch you later" she waved.
"Later." I said, turning away and heading towards eight hours of dreams (where maybe I could actually win at a session of poker.)
"Next!" I heard her yell as I rounded the corner to the elevator.

And until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

Tuesday Tidbit

Hot cinnamon bun-
That skyward swirling
Of her hair

And until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

Reading today in DC

You won't want to miss this! I'd walk barefoot from AC to DC to see this lineup even if I wasn't on it. 

A Spark of Magic

Took what was supposed to be a weekend trip down to James Madison University for the Furious Flower poetry conference and it turned into two weeks in the DC area helping out a friend on a contracting job. At Furious Flower I got to hang out with a bunch of poets I hadn't seen in years and cop a bunch of new books. And somewhere along the way I got my mojo (and my Muse) back. Check it;


Mike Brown's body-
The neighbors slowly
trickling out


Ferguson Missouri-
The asphalt heats up
Mike Brown's blood

Mike Brown's body-

My son's full lungs

as we embrace

Ferguson October-

The lingering redness

of fallen leaves

Evening rain-

How quickly the grave

is filled

Blood moon-

Same boy prone in the black street

different name

Rain drops-

Mom's fingerprints leftover

in the flour

Her mouth-

Alarm-red roses

glossed with dew

Rainbow

over Brigantine Inlet-

Her left eyebrow

Shadows boxing-

Ferguson

by firelight

Staring into

an Officer's flashlight-

Full Moon

Flashing lights-

How many times will I

fit the description

DuPont Circle

A black Queen sways

in the Autumn wind

Tulips-

I forget the color

of her eyes

Ferguson dusk

The shadows of the body

longer and longer

My hands on the wheel

Their hands on revolvers

D W B

Autumn dusk

My son misjudges the ball

early stars

TV screen flickers-

The feathers of a raven

belie its caw

Untitled

Lines of clouds

my latest poem

Cars crunch acorns-

A blind woman listens

in the crosswalk

Blood Moon-

The round fullness

Of her lips

Pausing to watch

two deer in the road-

Hunter's moon

Half Moon-

An old couple shares a

spoon of Gelato

Late August Post

Long time no post, there's no one reason why really. Mostly it's because I've been spending more time Advantage Playing certain slot machines, something that requires me to move around a lot from casino to casino, which means a great deal of walking. Thus less time spent sitting and contemplating and less time writing. Time management has never been a strength of mine, every Report Card I ever got in school said "Does not use time and materials wisely." I have stuff I want to write about including a short, short story, but I need to sit in one spot for hours to do that. And I haven't. Also, so many things going on in the world, bombs in Gaza, the invasion of Ukraine, casinos in AC shutting down, Ray Rice and Janay Palmer in an elevator on video, the white sheet that covered a brown boy's body for hours on a hot street in Ferguson MO and the following flames that made everyone hotter. So, so many things. Including the nagging feeling that I should be writing about more of those things. My recollection of Ruby Dee reached 100 views faster than anything I've ever posted here and the truth is that my prose postings get way more pageviews than the poetry, although the haiku and senryu don't do too bad. I have written some ku and ryu since my last post here;

Late August-
Stopped by the road's only red
leaf

Everywhere 
but under this umbrella-
August sun

August morning- 
Dad's hairline receding
in my mirror

Another orbit
Now fifty-two flickering 
wicks

Round and shining 
On the desk -
August Moon

Gaza dawn- 
So many red marks
on my Lesson Plan

Changing the channel- 
Yet again
Gaza explodes

Bit by bit 
The cake disappears from
the urinal


A few of these may even be worth keeping. I also had a birthday and got three awesome completely unexpected gifts. My birthday isn't really a big deal for me and until I joined Facebook I would sometimes miss it until the day after. But Facebook makes it a big deal with all the birthday wishes so you know it's coming. What I didn't know was coming though were two anthologies I have poems in, both of which I was really excited about. One was "Red Reads First" an anthology of haiku and senryu from participants in the Head to Head Haiku Slam held every year at the National Poetry Slam and now the Individual and Women's competitions as well. As a two-time National Champ I was invited to participate and was eager to read the work of the many poets who won or competed in the years that followed. The other anthology is perhaps the most important publication I've ever gotten, inclusion in the 2014 Best American Poetry edited by Terrance Hayes. I've known since January that I was in but the books arrived unexpectedly the day before my birthday. I often get my mail at the Borgata Business Center (long story) and they call me when stuff comes in, but when I got the call this time I couldn't figure out what it could possibly be. The reading for Best American will be in NYC in late Sept. and I expected to get my contributor's copies then. So their arrival in the mail caught me off guard. And one of the copies is a hardback! That was a really pleasant surprise. I may have even celebrated a little. Then Showboat, and Revel closed, two places I have many fond memories of. At Showboat I'll really miss the Earl of Sandwich deli with their great sandwiches and fresh brownies baked with Ghiradelli chocolate. Many of the restaurants in Revel had great food and when their poker room was open I ate there probably five days a week. The food was so, so good in so many places. Of all the casinos that closed though I'll probably miss Trump Plaza the most, because I spent countless hours in the Starbucks there reading and writing. It had both chairs and free Wifi and was the only Starbucks on the Strip that had both. I probably made more Blog posts from there than anywhere else save the Borgata. The Plaza also had one of my favorite neon signs in all of AC (pictured above), it was a huge sign above an escalator that lead down to Pacific Ave and I never could figure out why it was there. It wasn't the name of a current restaurant or club on the premises, maybe it was leftover by a previous show or something. I always told myself that I'd ask, but never got around to it. I had to ride the escalator four times just get the shot right. But it didn't matter, how ever many times it took, I was going to ride it and get the shot. I'm a patient guy that way. 

And until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)!

It's Gonna Be a . . .

Finally got my mojo back after a long dry spell. I think I have a short, short story in me too, if I can ever sit still long enough to get it down.


Fourth of July
The steady pop pop pop
of the rain


Second date
My car already parked
in her garage


Cornbread
Earl Grey
and me


Yoga on the beach
her Afro slightly matted


Sunrise
my glasses
half full


Manhole cover-
The ring around
Her right eye


Incoming waves
the white curls of a woman
on the beach


Casino sunrise-
A security guard's eyelids
Lower


Pistachio shell
with no seams-
Her pursed lips


Empty clam shell-
The doctor says
False Positive


Ivy greens a wall-
Her unshaven legs


Flash-
A fifty foot shadow
Boom

Summer Madness

Summer lightning-

That blonde streak

in her hair

And until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

#haiku

Ruby My Dear

I remember it was not quite Winter. I had tumbled into a car with Kenny Carroll and Brian Gilmore to trek to Philly, to the Painted Bride Arts Center. We were there to remember, to honor the life of Toni Cade Bambara. I remember so many famous writers in the room, on the program. Sonia Sanchez, Toni Morrison, I think Alice Walker was there. Amiri Baraka, Eugene Redmond, Askia Toure, Gaston Neal and so many others. The room was packed with writers, poets, people young and old. I was sitting down front and I remember an older, very beautiful black woman sitting just behind and to the side of me. I remember because she was thumbing through a book of poems as though searching for something. A book of poems I did not recognize. She thumbed through it with a familiarity that one only has when one has written the book. I remember that I couldn't see the cover of the book, couldn't see the name of the poet. She looked vaguely familiar, some Philly poet I thought. She was wearing a simple skirt, a simple many colored blouse, her hair wrapped in a long, very pretty scarf. She could have been anyone's mother or grandmother sifting through a book of poems. I remember the program was long, so many writers rose to testify about Sister Toni and her impact on their lives. And after several hours of testifying, all the famous writers had finished. I remember that they opened up a mic on the side for people from the audience to speak. The woman who was sitting behind me got into line and waited her turn to share. And I remember that it was not until she reached the mic and opened her mouth to speak that I recognized her, reading softly from her own book of poems. I'm not often stunned, but so much grace, class, and humility would stun anyone. Goodnight Ms Dee, I'll hum a little Monk for you.

And until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

National Poetry Month 30/30 Haiku/Senryu

Well it's NaPoMo and I usually do 30 Haiku/Senryu for the month. But for some reason this year I just haven't been feeling it. I'm not sure why, but I just haven't been writing. Part of it is that I've sworn off writing certain kinds of love poems. Part of it is Frankie Knuckles dying (which for some reason really hit me hard) and some other bad news involving the health of some close friends. I actually only met Frankie once, but it was memorable for a few reasons. Over my DJ career I got to spin with quite a few legends, including Afrika Bambaataa, Red Alert, DJ Kool, Little Louie Vega, DJ Mandrill, Sam The Man Burns, Terminator X, DJ Frankski and a few others. But two of those occasions bookend my career and were very similar experiences. In 83 at the start of my career Bam came to DC to play at a club called the Zoo where I was the house jock. Bam was already a legend, but DC wasn't into hip hop like that and as a result no one showed up. When I say no one, I mean no one. We didn't have a single paid entry. So me and Bam and his Record Boy (a young CCNY Sophomore named Rick Rubin) spent the whole night listening to records. Basically it was Bam quizzing me and then playing shit I had never heard before. It was the best education a DJ could ever ask for. Bam was chill, he didn't trip off the lack of a crowd, he just played records for us and we had a great time. He asked me if there where any records I was missing from my collection and I told him how I had never been able to find "High Powered Rap" by Crash Crew, Bam whipped it out and told me the story of why the record got pulled from all the stores. I never forgot his magnanimity and graciousness. Years later, in 1992 just after I had quit spinning I got a call to ask if I would play with Frankie Knuckles at Traxx in DC for Howard's Homecoming. I was done spinning, but I wasn't passing up that chance. I was just there to warm up the crowd and watch the system for the House, but Frankie was mad cool. Like Bam he travelled with a gazillion records, many of them rare. At one point he asked me what was the first record I ever bought, I said "Cuba" by the Gibson brothers. He goes through his crate and pulls it out! I hadn't heard that joint in 15 years but he cued it up. We talked music and how he accidentally invented House Music and lots of other things. He was mad cool, at one point he pulled out a white label copy of Whitney Houston's "I'm Every Woman" (which wouldn't be out for another six months)it was a DJ's dream gig, hanging out with a legend and talking music. For a cat of his stature he, like Bam, was very gracious, just a really cool dude. It was an amazing way to end a career, a night I'll never forget. But usually this kind of thing spurs me to write. I haven't been reading as much either and really have no excuses for that. I did attend Split This Rock in DC to do the Black Rooster Reading and that was the bomb. I also went to Pittsburgh to read for the launch of the Electronic Corpse anthology which I have some work in. And I've been asked to read at the Best American Poetry 2014 event this September. That's obviously a really big deal since you have to have a poem in the anthology to be asked to read and they only ask a few people out of the hundred or so who are included. That will be an exciting trip to NYC for me, for sure. Hopefully I'll still get my 30 poems in this month, but right now it doesn't look good, my Muse appears to be on strike.


April morning
flatness of the Atlantic-
Every page blank


Until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

Tuesday Tidbit 1 APR 14

Wharehouse echoes-
Frankie Knuckles
final groove

Until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

Poetic Tweets for NPR 2014

For the last two years the National Public Radio program "Tell Me More" hosted by Michel Martin has featured poetic tweets during the entire month of April to help celebrate National Poetry Month. If one wants to participate one merely needs to include the hashtag #Tmmpoetry in the Tweet one wants considered for the program. The Tweets are read aloud (twice!) on the air. Both of the previous years I was lucky enough to have one selected. So, below find the ten Tweets that I thought might be worthy this year. 

Polar Vortex-

The hole in my sock

widens

Arizona-

So little snow

so many flakes

Union Station-

In each other's arms

on the steam grate

Lighthouse beacon- 

The burnt orange of her lips

through the fog

Don't call it a comeback

We been here for years-

Hum of cicadas

Razor wire-

The creases in Father's

Orange jumpsuit

August heat-

The kink in the rope 

between her teeth

August afternoon-

A drunk tongues

an empty bottle

February First-

Shoveling a path to

the grill

Chess tournament-

A boy moves from his

father's shadow

Red light-

The car locks popping

as I cross

Until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

Tuesday Tidbits 11 MAR 14

Not John Henry-

New sign on 

the Office door

Spring Cleaning-

Leaping up to dust

the top shelf

Between the hangover

And the blackout-

Cherry Blossoms

Heavy flurries-

Opening the door to

a blank page

On Friday I posted a haiku about a friend's recent cancer diagnosis and as poets sometimes do, forgot that all of the context that was in my head wasn't on the page. Sorry if anyone thought the diagnosis was mine and I appreciate the concern. 

Until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

Friday Follies 7 MAR 14

Doctor says Stage Four- 

Coffee darkens a napkin 

then tablecloth  

And until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)

Tuesday Tidbits 4 MAR 14

I

Summer sunrise-

The casino refills 

the ATMS

Walking backwards

Across the parking lot-

The Crab Nebulae

Kissing

his name in black granite

Sliver of moon 

Manager's Office-

The telephone cord

trembling

Harvest moon-

A tight skirt waves

at passing cars

Red light-

The car locks popping

as I cross

Wide river-

Thelonious brooding

in the darkness

False eyelashes-

Wiper blades fill

with snow flakes

Lottery Balls-

Snow flakes on a bay breeze

Until next we meet, may all your potatoes be sweet (and dusted with cinnamon.)