POETS PLACE
APRIL 2022
The slap heard around the world!!!! Yes. We are human beings with a wide spread array of human emotions, most often guilt, that can be triggered by a sense memory. Such as seeing a familiar dog on the street, which triggers a loss about the family dog who was lost in the woods on that last family outing, “who was supposed to watch her last?” Uncontrolled emotions can often spark irrational feelings and subsequent rash behaviors that scare the soul. And sometimes scare the bejesus out of others that are caught in their wrath path.They are reactionary. Many of us humans, act on our emotions before we have a chance to process what we just heard, or misheard, as an attack, an affront to our personhood. If Will Smith took a deep breath before he reacted violently to what he believed was an affront to his wife, he may have allowed his anger to sit still a moment. That momentary reflective breath, could have helped him to see things from a different perspective- But alas, too late. Life changed in that instant for him. If you have a gun in your hand, well…
And then there is this….
“The invasion of Ukraine has created a humanitarian disaster for its people, the entire world is facing the greatest threat in history: a large-scale nuclear war, capable of destroying our civilization and causing vast ecological damage across the Earth.” From the open letter by 16 Nobel laureates including the Dami Lama.
I have written in the past about the dangers of repression. How repressed thoughts and feelings become inflamed distorted toxic goo that can infiltrate the mind and cause reactionary behaviors. Um well.. Putin? What is he repressing? A friend of mine mentioned maybe he is a closeted homosexual? “Repression is a key concept of psychoanalysis, where it is understood as a defense mechanism that "ensures that what is unacceptable to the conscious mind, and would if recalled arouse anxiety, is prevented from entering into it." According to psychoanalytic theory, repression plays a major role in many mental illnesses, and in the psyche of the average person.” Wikipedia
And how does one deal with anxiety? Well that's a personal choice. Putin is expressing his anxiety through its worst form- violence directed towards others. Dictators need to release their inner toxic ideologies. Once a narcissist rises to power, as sadly exemplified by such notable dictators as Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong (or Tse-tung), Josef Stalin, and Pol Pot, their fear of exposure rises to an extreme level of paranoia. They become driven by an irrational fear of the fate that could befall them if they are exposed as their worthless true self. Oh yeah. Linda :0)
And now, April poetry for the soul!
Killer within (for Putin)
By Linda Kaye
(first published in my chapbook Teetering on the edge of the emotional cliff)
Picture someone scary hidden inside your soul
a haunting creepy feeling
ghoulish sour and foul
afraid to delve too deep? unlock the monster that's asleep? Or lurks with unsavory peeps?
Open up the window reveal yourself behold unleash your killer instinct unmask uncloak be real!
Uncover that you're someone something scary
evil
don't squeal
imagine that you're someone
dark deceiving and stank
reviled reclusive repulsive allowed to kill to shank
to defile
to humiliate
and rape
No escape
A powerful thrill engulfs you
starving for some blood you realize you are manic
decompensating thoughts
searching for some action
some excitement horrifyingly distraught
an uncontrolled thirsting is gnawing through your bones
sentencing a ménage of mayhem
the remains covered in stones
that night a miracle happens you wake up all sweaty and hot
your hands sticky and wet
your head stained with guilt
the shame bubbles over like sloppy burning champagne
the dream disgusts and shatters you
your sleep forever disturbed
FIGHT
By Mary Cheung
2-9-2020
10:57 a.m
I write this for a friend who is battling cancer...
Your a fighter,
Armed with designer stylish clothes and fabulous shoes.
Your sly impish smile disarms your opponents .
They never saw you coming, yes that's true.
Your energy and spirit dominates.
They won't take you down without a fight.
Life's too precious ,
Nothing can hold you down,
Try as they might.
The dips and the lows,
Are eclipsed by the highs and it shows...
In the life that you've built and the love that
follows you.
You only need to reach farther than your phone.
When life deals you the blues.
Yes you're a fighter,
Don't let age slow you down.
Your spirit and will is stronger still.
Let love surround you in warmth all around.
Mary Cheung- she is an innovative Artist and Costume Designer. Her works contain a strong sense of story as well as a highly sensuous style. She mostly works in paint or photography and sometimes making art that is wearable and innovative. She states “I am usually more of a Visual style Artists and have only recently been open to sharing literally art/poems, often paired with visual art of my creation, birthing a new form of spoken word art as another form of expression”.
Words n’ Wine
By lee boek
I took it in hand
As from the bottle wine took flight
Words flowed, and with a sponge
I soaked them up
And squeezed it tight
Into my glass
Swirled them
Drank them
Head swimming
Me Spinning ‘round
Still talking and writing them down.
Lee Boek: Artistic Director/poet
An integral part of Public Works Improvisational Theater Company since the 1970s, Lee took over as Artistic Director of the company in 2001 after founding member Marlene Rasnick’s passing. The California native, born in 1941, has had successful careers as a Fundamentalist Evangelist preacher, radio host, actor, writer, producer, union organizer, husband, father, grandfather to many & champion for the under-served & wronged. A staple of the Silverlake arts community, Lee continues to be on the forefront of accessible, socially-relevant performing arts productions
Thoughts
By Daniel Schack
Imagine a future where it is illegal to have a personality or a mind.
The poet ,daniel schack can be seen on poetrysoup.com and his art on tumblr adanthemanworld.daniel schack is 57 and is a high school grad. With 3.5 years of college.peace.
death on the set
By Jeff Chayette 6 January 2021
6/8 time
dime bags and lines
dressing guessing rooms
which dress to choose
whose blues to lose
cocaine down the drain
cops on set time for regrets
a happy shoot gets the boot
we squirm and yearn
for bill evans’s waltz bliss
jazz time 6/8 6/8 6/8
bouncing off the walls
lighting screams
dresses tear
breast are bare
that’s not it cover your tits
back to places remove the traces
catch your breath
take two is set drop the bets
no time for lines
this is the scene of a crime in time
we lost our youth in the corner booth
swing me low
drink me high
if the powder’s dry
we might stay high
and live through this night of gruesome
fight and decadence
repentants waits at heaven’s gate
your life’s at stake
you’ve got one take
save it for the movies
time to regroup
the meter’s running
time is money
producer screams
where’s that harlot starlet
nymphet left the set
caught the train uptown
has not come down
the lines are dead
bill evans riffed
debby’s waltz tripped the time to 4
closed the door shot up more
where’s the girl
set’s in a whirl
acting coach smoking roaches
strangely unconcerned
masking controlling craving pacing
tracing her last steps
a broken strand of time
he broke the rule
lost his case
she screamed molestation
next stop police station
he grabbed her throat
ripped her coat
police swarmed in played jungle gym
on his back held the gun against his neck
said move we’ll shoot dug in their boots
your life’s at stake
you’ve got one take
save it for the movies
Jeff Chayette has lived and loved for 4 decades in Los Angeles. A multi-faceted artist who attended Art Center College of Design In Pasadena, Jeff has worked on stage, television and films. His design work has been peer recognized with National and local Emmys, CBS Eye on Excellence and Promax BDA awards. His current poems are reflections on past and present life in Los Angeles through the eyes of the pandemic.
On Living
with Elizabeth Kubler Ross
for a Long Weekend
at The Atrium Hospital
In Middletown Ohio
By richard q russeth
It’s something,
this being alive;
a beating heart
cures all.
Waking in
the middle of the night
and realizing the nurse
is not an angel
is a sweet revelation.
Accepting today
as your entire life,
go for a walk,
even if slowly,
and dragging
your IV pole.
It’s spring,
but it won’t last,
just like anything.
Blues
By Ronald Carrillo
I have carried these blues with me since
I discovered him his male charms saying nothing
I did not understand their meaning
I gave them a depth of value they were not worth
Only believing his words and what I thought
I saw in his eyes and felt in my empty heart
Those empty arms of his and me falling apart
A false disguise I surmised was love and affection
I expected continuity he expected more of me
A young heart unable to find warmth
But instead being molded for sin
Like being given gin instead of mother’s milk
I vomited on the formula but accepted the sustenance
Given me in increments until I succumbed
Still sucking the thumb of my youth
I write with my heart
He knew my skin but not my name
A fool’s game looking for love
Not forsaking the fairytale
But innocence maturing a heart enduring
Those first steps of romantic Spring
There were bright seasons but then the flood
Of HIV/AIDS came to reset Gay Liberation
No more separation joining the mainstream
A rainbow dream come true
Awakening the nation to extend emancipation
Degrees of acceptance in the democratic pecking order
The liberal zeitgeist of America arising out of the trumpet smoke
The conservative right no longer having a chokehold on power
Will this new breeze of freedom be ephemeral or mind blowing
My gay blues tempered with age and experience
But remain like the weather
Now however I can forecast their temperatures and movements
More rainbows in my sky
More smiles of maturity in my heart
Gone the defiles of men of little substance
I have built up my resistance through loneliness
Men are no longer primary in my life
A primary life is my necessity and goal
In my past I was never whole now I am architecturally more complex
I will always welcome support and be supportive
I move forward despite the blues
Now I sing them away as distant memories
Of who I used to be for they no longer have a hold on me
I have released them
Blue notes ascending to the sky
No longer falling like rain
Coda: We all have to navigate loneliness
In senior time the pitfalls more precarious
Isolation may be darker and frigid
My heart more accepting while the mind more rigid
These fears of couple conformity
When my solitary emotions rule
Invade my private space still
I move in the security of my poetry
With an open heart and strong will
Ronald G. Carrillo is a native Lincoln Hts Angelino, living in Eagle Rock and a retired LAUSD educator and influencer. He writes of his passion and rebirth into the golden age of living. He has been writing since high school and was initially influenced from the songwriters, Keith Reid, Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Neil Young.
Is It Possible?
By Congapoet
IS IT POSSIBLE?
That your fear can destroy you
That your want can destroy you
That your greed can destroy you
That your ego can destroy you
IS IT POSSIBLE?
That living in bliss can destroy you
That being ignorant of history can destroy you
That lying to yourself and others can destroy you
That looking the other way can destroy you
IS IT POSSIBLE?
That being self-centered can destroy you
That not being yourself can destroy you
That not allowing others to be themselves can destroy you
That not caring about others can destroy you
IS IT POSSIBLE?
That not allowing freedom of speech can destroy you
That destroying other people can destroy you
That destroying your planet can destroy you
IS IT POSSIBLE?
That not allowing other possibilities can destroy you
Conga Poet Plays Congas. Jams with bands. Caught the tail end of the 60’s. A Revolutionary man. Started poetry in 2009. The drums mixed. The Conga Poet found his niche. 2 poetry CD’s.15 YouTube Conga Poet videos.You can Google Conga Poet!!!
Thanks for joining us! We will continue to host writers and poets of all genres.
Love, Linda Kaye :0)
Please submit your written work to:lindakayepoetry@icloud.com and include a short bio.
Linda Kaye writes poetry, curates poetry, produces spoken word and art events and produces a poetry column POETS PLACE for the online publication LAARTNEWS throughout the Los Angeles area.
Linda’s poetry events have included several summer poetry salons, and shows at the Align Gallery, 50/50 Gallery, Gold Haus Gallery, Ave 50 Gallery and Rock Rose Gallery in Highland Park .The Manifesto Café in Hermon, Pilates and Arts studio in Echo Park, and Native Boutique and Zweet Café in Eagle Rock. And at the Neutra Institute Gallery and Museum in Silverlake. Her first short documentary film “BORDER POETS” was a socially and politically inspired event with poets and musicians filmed at the border wall near Tecate, Mexico on the Jacumba, Ca. side of the US. The film co-produced by MUD productions is available for viewing on her website and on youtube. https://youtu.be/5Te4-dlhxco
Her rap music video project in collaboration with Mary Cheung, “ERACE-ISM” can also be seen on youtube. https://youtu.be/NfrbveNUBgg
Most recently, February 19, 2022, she debuted her staged poetry production of “20 Years Left” at the historic Ebell Club in Highland Park! Two sold out shows with 2 standing ovations!! Check out the links to reviews and the video!
https://thehollywoodtimes.today/20-years-left-new-show-performance-poetry-music/
20 Years Left youtube live stream 2/19/22
Linda Kaye is a native Angelino who grew up in the San Fernando Valley. She claims to be both a first-generation Valley Girl, and The Original Hipster. Educated at Antioch University and Cal State Long Beach in psychology and social work. Linda, now retired from medical social work, was working for the last seven years as a psychotherapist and licensed clinical supervisor for an out patient mental health clinic. She was a licensed medical social worker for 30+ years working on the front line of healthcare, a private consultant for Physicians Aid Association and for skilled nursing facilities throughout California and Arizona. She was also an adjunct assistant professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Oh yeah.
Twitter/Instagram: lindakayepoetry