On the road again Killeen (Sept. 17, 2010)
Mood:  lucky
Topic: Slam Tour

 

(Thanks to John Crow, Killeen Slammaster for the flyer, and to Chris Michael and the Killeen Facebook Profile for the photos)

 

Touring has been really fun!  I've been making small circles and ending back in Austin.  Killeen kicks off the longest leg so far, three weeks in the middle of America.  This is my first time out here, and I had heard a lot of conflicting reports, but I was expecting a friendly crowd since I have a lot of friends on the scene, and I was pleased to be right!

 

The Killeen Poetry Slam has a new home in a beautiful venue called La Rumba Lounge, check out how beautiful it is in there!

 

 

Plus the Killeen scene seems to be really picking up steam.  There was a strong, young, enthusiastic crowd, and they seemed to dig on most of what I performed. 

 

See me in this photo?

 

This is one of my favorite performance photos ever:

 

Me and Christopher Silkysmoothpenz Michael:

 

here's some more pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2090493&id=1188610137

 

It's been about a week, but I'm pretty sure this was my set list:

Chalk

How to Feel Good About Saving the Environment

Philosopher Masseuse

Walls and Sidewalks

A Scientist in Unrequited Love

juggling

Political Theater

Newton's First Law

later in the night:

Making Jane

 

(All photos copyright Killeen Poetry Slam)

A New Poem - Crit welcome
With team APS and the preparation for NPS and my slam tour and new job, I
hadn't been doing a whole lot of writing for the past couple months.
Fortunately, this means I'm now full of ideas and having trouble getting
them all out! Anyways, I just finished a first draft of a new poem and I
thought I'd share it. There may still be changes, particularly shortening.
Even so, it is a poem oriented toward performance. As always, critiques are
welcome. :) dny


School of Stars



*One*

Life arcs off the surface of the Sun,

like sparks from a welding gun

shooting molten motion in every direction.

We, the living plant and animal civilizations,

are sprawled out across the bulging round rocks,

like lizards basking it in.

Life is where the action is-

If it weren't for life,

the planets would spin cool and silent as copper coins on polished granite,

there would be no movement on their faces but mechanical wind and moon
tides.



*Two*

On our round rock,

every living self is made of living cells.

And every living cell contains a spark of energy.

So we are bursting with sparks-

this room would be full of fireworks if you could see it in microscopic
infrared,

we measure the energy in volts or calories or watt-ever,

but we burn them when we move,

our fires must be replenished by consuming more sparks,

everything we eat still flickers with the dying embers of life,

that came from life,

that came from life,

that came from the Sun.



*One Million*

Here on Earth,

we name our stars like sons and daughters,

but our Sun is our father like the Earth is our mother,

the Romans named him Sol.

How appropriate that all our energy came from him.

What souls would we have without the Sun to spark them?



*Infinity*

What if everything was invisible?

What if we could see at the speed of light?

Could we see what drives us then?

The fires burning like campsites across our continents?

Would we look like lamps?

How bright would we glow?

Could you see us from the moon?

Would there be galaxies swimming in Earth's ocean?

Would we be a school of stars?

OKC - Red Dirt Poetry Feature
Topic: Poetry Tour

I had a great time featuring in OKC on Wednesday night!  I've got nothing but good things to say!

Huge thanks to Jennifer for setting everything up, Rob & Tap for hosting, Nicole for being super cool, and Lauren Z & her roomies for putting me up for a few nights! 

I had a bit of a surreal experience showing up at Lauren's house and finding that no one was awake... so after knocking a bunch and waiting around by the door, I ended up just letting myself in.  Luckily I was in the right place, but I didn't actually meet anyone who lived there until the next day!  I felt like I was doing something wrong... but apparently that was the right thing to do!

 

Here's my set list:

Stones Thrown in the Ocean
Olympic Torch
Philosopher Masseuse
Walls and Sidewalks
Juggling (w/ Boing Glow-in-the-Dark Balls)
The Smallest Marsupials of All (Koala Gnomes)

and after a break, I read:

Singularity (Stephen Hawking)

San Antonio Feature / Set List
Topic: Poetry Tour

Last night was my feature in San Antonio!  Christopher Lee and I rolled down to SA, and had a really fun time at PuroSlam and hanging out with everyone before and after!  Thanks to Shaggy for hosting, Chris Haiku Bike for meeting us beforehand, Lakey and crew for hanging out, and Deena for putting us up for the night!

However, in my own estimation I didn't do a great job with my feature itself...  basically, PuroSlam is a very difficult venue because there is always ambient crowd noise.  You can't force them to listen to you... You really have to lay back and speak with confidence, and eventually they'll come around.  I've had a lot of success here in the past... but this particular time, I didn't do a great job of this, and at times I felt like I was trying to yell and force my poetry on them... which is not a good strategy.

In general, I think I tried to start too big... it's awkward to open with two comedy poems in a row, so I don't think I'll do that anymore unless I'm doing a straight comedy set.  I also forgot to set up any kind of music for the juggling portion, so that was kinda a bust...  I participated in a head-to-head face-off with SA poet Lakey (who defeated me in his home venue).   And the Anniversary Sex poem did not go well at all...  hmmm....  Lots of lessons learned.  Still, I had fun and made a bit of money, and everyone was very positive...  I just have my own ideas about how it went. 

 

Here's my set:

Olympic Torch

Political Theater

Stones Thrown

Juggling

Chalk

Anniversary Sex

High Coo (in the head to head)

Newton's First Law (in the head to head)

Hideout Feature and Set List
Topic: Poetry Tour

I've featured at the Hideout many times now... It's my favorite place in Austin to feature.  I love the intimacy of the crowd - even when there's only 10 people in the front, it feels crowded.  I like how everyone really listens and if you do a good job, sometimes you can get the whole place to go quiet, all the way up the booths in the back.

Also- the host at the hideout, Thom the World Poet (currently renamed "Tom Yum"), brings amazing energy to the mic every time.  He really is the dopest improv poet in America (not to mention a bad-ass non-improv poet as well!)  He's also insanely prolific... he puts out more chapbooks than the entire austin poetry scene combined.  And Thom's always been particularly supportive of my work - I mean, Thom is more supportive of everyone in the Austin poetry community than anyone else - But he still makes individuals feel like they get special attention.  I just can't say enough good things about Thom.

So it made sense to kick off my new career as a professional touring poet at my favorite open mic in Austin.

 

I basically read throughout the night... probably 20 different poems, including:

The Snow Ball

Cloud Carnival of Cairo

Singularity (Stephen Hawking)

 

and more... I'll see if I can find my complete set list.

New Touring Blog
Topic: Slam Tour

Hi!  You've found my poetry and travel blog! 

 

Watch this space for ongoing updates on poetry gigs, including journal entries, tour notes, set lists, slam info, and more! 

 

-dny