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The Poets |
The Reasons |
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Reality
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I started releasing in 1997 and it just so
happen to emote in the form of writing. Writing is my therapy, which saves
me money (smile). When I realized the true power in words and sound, I
discovered that wordz released in righteousness could grant immortality
and I always wanted to live forever.
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Claudia Sarden
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I write poetry to distill the
essence of my Soul, to know the me that observes from the bleachers, to be
One with the We of the you and the me. My laptop nourishes the roots
of written chemistry, praises through the branches of spoken harmony,
assails truth at the stalk, ever grateful to the Divine. I am the
Great Oak, memorable for the words left behind, when the rhythm and rime of
my voice are no longer heard. I am because God IS that awesome force that
dares to make a poet me and bid her sing... |
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Dehejia Maat
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I grabbed my pen letting
blessings from my creator flow from my fingers to my paper. In a frenzy my
hand glides from side to side, page after page filling them up with poetic
words, spiritual words, words of love and revolution. As I release,
lightning flashes across my mind and thunderstorms brew in my eyes watching
as the world around me changes to the color of poetry. If I didn't write I
would not be sane, would not know how to channel this energy, I would not
know how to survive. |
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KAREN GIBSON ROC
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I write. And I write and I
write. I perform because that is what I love. I've been writing for the
better part of my life. I was born in Jamaica W.I. and grew up in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. I came to New York about fourteen years ago. Some years
later I found myself on the spoken word scene. But it felt stifling and
limiting so i put a band together. And I’ve been playing out on the music
scene for the past year. 30 shows all over the city. Joe's pub, Nuyorican
poet's café, Bowery poetry club (where these photos are from), Cbgb's
gallery and many many more. Taping of def poetry jam second season.
I find the struggle hard
sometimes because spoken word and music still Stands on it's own. It's
originality still baffles people. They can't find a place for it so they
gawk at it. I don't mind the struggle because it makes me stronger. I am a
poet when i wake up in the morning. I am a poet when i go to sleep at night.
I am a poet. Determined to speak and be heard. I am a poet who feels the
music helps to organically transport people closer To the truth. The truth
that the poet (a poet like myself) continuously stands for.
There is not a waking moment when i put my pen down. My mind drifts to the
word and it's purpose every moment of every day. That is my gift. I am a
poet.. Look out for the new website & Album: "5&2fish" |
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Cham
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I
Cham, write because there has never been another outlet for me that last.
Since the age of 11 watching my dad beat my mom and brother over and over
made me shut down and not trust people. The many notebooks I wrote in were
actually letter to God and they saved my life. I never read my poetry out
until last year in 2002. I realized that God has this anointing calling on
my life when it comes to writing. I have tried to run the other way and he
keeps stopping me with my pen and pad. I write now to encourage, strengthen
and proclaim that Jesus is Lord. Someday when I'm young again I will learn
to trust and write at the same time. So while God continues to work on me I
will continue to encourage you, with gospel poetry. |
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Duane "Xiro" Pierre
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Back when I
was young and green and relatively new to the world, about 8 or 9, my class
read a poem by Joyce Kilmer entitled Trees- the first lines are “I think
that I shall never see/ A poem as lovely as a tree.” This is the first poem
that ever resonated with me, because it read more like “Rappers Delight”
than it did a psalm in the Bible (or maybe it was because I was a kid and it
talked about putting mouths on breasts). So instinctively, I spent a good
part of my day trying to write something just like it.
The result
was a sophomoric attempt at satire I titled Puppet. My teacher, Ms.
Donaldson, made a point of taking it to our principal, who wanted to put it
in the PTA newsletter. I was so amped, I couldn’t wait for my parents to see
my poem; I couldn’t wait to hear their praise. After all, that’s all I was
concerned about- not personal achievement, not artistic expression, only
parental accolades. Unfortunately, none of that ever had a chance of
happening. When I got back from lunch, my poems was gone from my desk
without a trace- no poem, no newsletter, no praise form my parents. I tried
in vain to recreate it, but the words escaped me time and time again. I
couldn’t even remember the first line. So, I kept writing. In fact, I’ve
been writing ever since. |
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Conscious Element
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I
began writing “Poetry” at the age of 10 because my teachers would
consistently label me “opinionated”. It was as if to say that having an
opinion was somehow negative. Translation: For young brothers and sisters
to somehow begin thinking outside of the box is dangerous, because we might
just say something to arouse the “good
niggaz” and “ol’
masa” couldn’t have none of that. So my
poetry became a weapon of mass destruction, that
the government could not silence, the teachers could not denounce, and most
cats couldn’t understand. But as I always say, “I’m not
surpriiiiised that y’all
catz can’t understand me, cause I’m a stylish, modish,
non-conformist, swank, up-to-the-minute type kinda’
cat”, and poetry was a reflection of that.
As I grew older, poetry
grew with me, understood my pain, overstood my
struggle, and even offered friendly advice when it was necessary. I began
to realize that some people pray, while I write. Some people go to church,
while I write. Some people look up to the skies, while I look down to an 8
½ by 11” looseleaf paper, as my lord and savior. Call it crazy. Nah! I
call it…poetry. |
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Co-Chese
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At 15yrs old enrolled in Arts High School of
performing arts in Newark, NJ, I was blessed with a great teacher named
Ms.Raff who inspired me to put pen to pad and let this medium speak for me
in class as opposed to my mouth as I was constantly sent to keep the
principal company in his office. From that point on, I've been hooked with
this form of expression |
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Co'Ral
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I started writing poetry in High school when
I was about 15 years old. I used it to let out hurt and love, overall
emotion. It has become one way I use to let go of my misery and share my
happiness. It is my way to relate to people, and my way to communicate
through word. Coral |
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Athena
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I first started writing poetry I was in the
7th grade. My student teacher that year focused on poetry and under her
guidance, I blossomed and found myself expressing the thoughts that could
never come out. It came spilling forward and has not stopped since. I write
because I need to release the
emotions that I hold in, to say the things that I can not say and to express
in words what the world inspires me to write. I write poetry because I have
to. Its part of me. |
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Gennessee
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I began writing to be heard. I
kept a journal in my early teen years that I knew was always being read by
different family members. This was how I expressed to them things I wanted
them to know, how bad I wanted something for Christmas, just how much I
hated my sister, things of that nature.
I kept a separate one with my true
personal feelings in a more reliable hiding spot, feelings I was holding in
about things going on with me and around me. My writing eventually evolved
into poetry. Then I was told one day I could vocalize it in front of an
audience and once I tried it I was hooked. It provided the outlet I needed
to release thoughts and views I had built up in my journal directly out and
into ears eager to listen, feelings I was holding in about things going on
with me and around me. Spoken word is one of the great loves of my life. I
love to hear it, feel it and also to express it to those who care to listen. |
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Big Balla
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I began writing poetry
because I couldn't express my feelings or articulate my thoughts verbally.
So I picked up a pencil and grabbed a pad and started by doodling, graduated
to writing quick thoughts and evolved to writing poetry. I've Been in
love with poetry every since the age of thirteen. Something about
poetry that has always appealed to me, and made me feel comfortable and at
ease. So I guess it's just natural that I do what I do when the
feeling moves me.
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KaNikki J.
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What is my reason for writing poetry? To live, if I don't write, I can't
breathe, therefore I die. I believe that God gave all of us a talent and a
testimony. It is our choice to use that talent or lose that talent. I write
to share my God given gift. It is a blessing when you can use your talent to
give your testimony. I feel that a testimony is what poetry is. If not your
own, then someone elses. I write to tell the stories of other people who are
afraid to tell their own. My poetry brother King Cypher said, "A poem is
never finished, it's left for someone else to pick up where you left off"
(not a direct quote). I write to inspire someone else to pick up my words
and use their own. The Bible says, "In the beginning was the word" I write
to find my way back to God. |
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Darlene Brandon-Scott
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Poetry has been in my
blood as long as I can remember. Growing up in the inner city elementary
school, our teachers would read Langston Hughes to the class trying to open
our minds. Looking back now I am not sure if I even understood why it moved
me but it did so I began writing down my feeling in the form of poetry and
fell in love. As a child dealing with so many issues, poetry became my only
positive release. Writing made me feel free of judgment and ridicule until
one day I let the principal of my elementary school read one of my poems and
he immediately had one of the secretaries type it up and post it in the main
trophy cases in the school, I guess that was my first published piece. Still
writing up until the age of 13 and receiving barely passing grades I decided
to participate in a poetry contest and submit a poem to the school news
paper it was accepted and published but I received lots of negative feed
back from teachers asking me if perhaps the poems were plagiarized one even
stated that, such a creative mind should have better grades, needless to say
by the time I completed my first year of High School, writing became a
distant memory. January of 2002 I experienced the loss of my grandmother and
while cleaning the house for the first time in 18 years I picked up my pen
and started writing again. |
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Mind Evolution
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I was about 13 years old and a friend
of mine started writing poetry, she read one of her pieces to me and asked
what I thought about it. I told her I didn't think it was very good. So she
dared me to write
something better. The poem I wrote wasn't really that much better but I kept
working at it and the rest is history. |
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J-Sun
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I started writing hip
hop lyrics when I was about 12 years old. I’ve always loved words and sounds
and had an uncanny ability to be creative in terms of telling stories. I
hadn’t wrote anything in years, and after being incarcerated for 6.5 years
and making positive changes in my life – I rediscovered my ability to
write. Those positive changes along with the creative writing combined
with my exposure to spoken word and the open mic venues helped me to refocus
my priorities and become more analytical in terms of how I view myself and
the world. Poetry gives me an opportunity and an avenue to educate others
and expose them to the realities of my life and others who have had similar
experiences. The open mic venues are like stages where you expose your
thoughts to the world. Something that everyone looks for in life. And I’ve
found that through poetry. |
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Anthia Elliott
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I Started writing poetry to find a
way to me... To find a way to love the me that was afraid to be
seen... I started writing to find completion an peace
- And I have. |
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Lockedown
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I first starting writing as a
student at Johnson C. Smith University because I had a crush on this
beautiful brotha & merely wrote something cuz her was a poet. I just wanted
a chance to converse w/the brotha... of course this has since changed
--> my reason for writing now is to share God's glory and to free myself
from mental bars. |
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Ernel
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My reasons are: heart ache /
Expression / Love for the Art Form |