Success!

So we just had another Boxcar Voices event last night. 


It was amazing.


We had around 50-60 people there, which is amazing for a regular event with no theme. Normally people have to tell sex stories to attract a crowd that big. But it wasn't just the crowd that got me excited: we had a bunch of new readers. 


It was great watching all of these new people break out of their comfort zones and throw their feelings and beings out from the stage into the hungry all-devouring crowd. That may be misleading. The crowd was pretty quiet yet wonderfully responsive. Regardless, it was obvious when someone was reading for the first time. There was sweat on shaking palms, nervous laughter from both the reader and the crowd, chopped rhythm in phrases, and many "uhhs." Of course, not everyone was like this, and I don't want it to seem like it's a bad thing. Even after a year of putting this show on, I'm still the same way. Me and Mr. Daniels hang out to help calm the nerves. Talk about therapy.


Really though. This was, in my opinion, one of best shows we've ever had. There were sad stories, religious poems, a guy crawling around on the stage and floor and knocking over podiums,  and even poems about killing your entire family (hilarious and poignant, by the way). I feel incredibly privaledged to have experienced the phenomenon of this event, because we've had on had a few that exude this sort of passion. 


One thing that really struck home with me about this show is that anything can be poetry. Billy Collins has a poem that he reads to his students in basic-level poetry and writing courses. He prefaces a reading I have somewhere by saying that everything can be poetry and using an example of a guy who wrote a book of poetry about garbage. With nights like the one we just had, it's amazing what kind of "poetry" there actually is. I think we get caught up in meter and rhythm and the perceived "deepness" that poetry is "supposed" to have and we don't think that literally everything we do day in and day out is poetry. All we have to do is write about it.


I hope that I'll be able to post some video of it soon. There were some audio complications, but it may be salvageable. 


I'd really like to post a poem I read last night. I'd really love to post other peoples' poems, but I don't have them yet. But anyway, since I don't have to ask your permission, I'm going to post a poem. Give me your feedback. Let me know what you think. I hope it hits a chord or two. I wrote this on the Staten Island ferry, right before it docked into Manhattan, after watching a guy with headphones get up and dance. It's definitely meant to be performed.

Eight Million Stories 

Man,

It must be easy to be Yourself

in a city with so many

Selves.

You can count your beats

out loud

cause your beats blend in with

      the sound

of 8 million otherfeet

Stompin their beats

Out Loud

And, man, it must be easy to be your

      own

in a city where you’re never

      alone

Where everyone has a home

      even if it is the street

            feeling all the vibrations from eight million

beats.

Man, you can even dance if you want to.

It sure must be easy to be in tune

      with so many people swaying

to their own croon.

Everyone moving to their own

      Jazz n’ hip hop n’ rock n’ roll

subway brakes screaming altissimo

      Shuckin along

Shaking up tempo

causin a crescendo of

all the other voices in the orchestra.

It sure must be easy to be you

      In a place where God isn’t

      always watching

      The Conductor

      not performing

His vision obscured by steel skyscraper guitars

      and harmonicas blown

from sunlight reflected glass windows

      and taxi cabs

            humming exhaust

Down here

in the exhaust

You’re the Conductor.

The Maestro won’t cast his eyes

      or ears

            on your sinful sounds.

And your beats are yours to pound

Man, just dance if you want to.    

"The bandwagon of my own uncertainty."

This has been a favorite video of mine for a few weeks now. I keep going back to it because it's hilarious and very poignant at the same time. Check it out:

This guy is Taylor Mali. He's an incredible slam poet and English teacher. This won't be the last time I post a video from him. His style is very conversational and easily accessible.

But it's not just his style that makes me love this poem. What he's talking about is the state of our generation's communication. He asks if we are "the most aggressively inarticulate generation since, ya know, a long time ago."

I feel this way with poetry sometimes -- in writing it, but also in talking about it. Sometimes when I write, I have trouble being honest. I hit around what I'm trying to say with all this metaphor and figurative language without ever actually addressing what it is I want to say. And in talking about poetry, I often find that I hide the fact that I write poetry. Or I talk vaguely about it, without ever really revealing that I love it.

Now that's not exactly what he is talking about here. He is talking more about day to day life and using language effectively... and not sounding ridiculous. But, as writers, his message is strong. What if we actually wrote the way we speak? Would someone who reads it actually know what we were talking about? Would they know that we knew what we were talking about? I'm not so sure.

"Like, operant conditioning, ya know?"

Sometimes it's hard to break those habits, but that is all it is. A habit. Social conditioning at it's best. As writers, we have to overcome those habits and speak, as Taylor says, with conviction. You often hear about your voice being heard. What good is your voice being heard if you aren't actually saying anything? And what if you're saying something, but you're saying it incorrectly or incoherently?

Taylor's poem really makes me think about my communication. I definitely fall in the "ya know?" trap in an effort to convey an idea. But what is it? Filler. Filler and the need for some sort of response in order for me to be secure in what I'm saying. If I need that much convincing, I probably shouldn't be saying it. There's a lyric: "Ain't it like most people? I'm no different. We love to talk on things we don't know about."

So there's some food for though. Let me know what you think about Taylor. I would love to see him perform, but I don't know if he tours often. I highly recommend his other stuff; he's incredibly talented.