POETS PLACE
MARCH 2021
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
Hello everyone!
In the last hundred years, and probably much longer than that, women in America have had to overcome the oppression forced upon them by male belief systems that had been indoctrinated by religious ideology, as well as perpetuated by society’s acceptance of the male dominance to control women. Many scholars have written extensively about the man’s need to have power and control over women due, mostly, to their animosity that women produce sexual desires in men, that sex is “sinful” which meant that women “the weaker sex” controls that power, thus men couldn’t have complete control over them. This need to control, we have seen throughout human history and are evident in the conquering and the subjugation towards people of color, the disenfranchised, lower socioeconomic status, immigrants, and especially towards women. Freud believed that sex is the prime motivator and common denominator for all of us. Was he right?
That aside, we have a woman VP! It’s about time! There are women in “power” positions all over the world! I hope we can finally see more women in positions that can make a difference in our society towards the greater good, for all people. Let’s hope they aren’t throttled!
Let poetry be our great divide from dismissiveness!
A woman of her word
By Linda Kaye
A woman of her word paves the road with directional signs pointing forward then letting go.
A woman of her word carries bountiful insightful messages that sound the drums of conscious beings harmonizing with the whispers of faith.
A woman of her word respects the guardians of wishes doesn't dispel hopes and praises dreams.
A woman of her word makes plans and follows through giving light a shining path lifting spirits ringing bells keeping promises protecting secrets saving lives.
A woman of her word
Curates peace
Supports humanity
Celebrates friends
Listens intently
Questions sparingly
Nurtures success
Repels prejudice
A Woman of her word loves you with all her heart with the depths of her soul with the threads of gold spiraled lovingly through gifts of freedom, to be
Love Unlost in the Fields of Magnetic North
By Rich Ferguson
Think of love
as magnetic north
should you ever find yourself lost.
Think of love
as the uncivilized magic
of the present moment,
the unreined beauty of possibility,
the wild & wondrous music of wolves
howling in the hills
of anything-can-happen.
Guarding that love:
our sweat, blood & muscles;
heaving, blossoming
with the changing seasons.
Such ardent & arduous work
we offer forth
to cherish one another's heart—
life’s most powerful & precious light
Rich Ferguson is a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet who has shared the stage with Patti Smith, Wanda Coleman, Moby, and other esteemed poets and musicians. Ferguson has been selected by the National Beat Poetry Foundation, Inc. (NBPF), to serve as the State of California Beat Poet Laureate (Sept. 2020 to Sept. 2022). He is a featured performer in the film, What About Me? featuring Michael Stipe, Michael Franti, k.d. lang, and others. His newest poetry collection, Everything Is Radiant Between the Hates, is now available on Moon Tide Press.
* The Power of Never
By Lee Boek
The ache is deep
Or is it the frustration
Angst
Pushing uselessly for something
That cannot be
The way you want it to be
It can’t happen
Acceptance of that is impossible
The Power of Never
Never the less
Make it happen
This is why we have our own
Little Universes
Even if you want it and it can’t happen
It still is happening
In your head,
It’s part of you already
You won’t let go.
Congratulations!
You can envision how good life would be with it
If only things could be the way you see it
A perfect spot, like a perfect phone call
Everything and Everyone
Complying
“Never Again is Now”
The disgusting sight of concentration camps in the US, again; a genuine repeat; as if as a country we haven’t learned a thing. We have a hard time, always a struggle to make progress for human rights, and against racism and sexism.
We can somehow justify these concentration camps, or, at least, tolerate them. Otherwise, the streets would be full of protest, like in Chile where the people hit the streets by the thousands just because the subway fares were raised.
In the US the streets could be full because immigrant children are being taken, separated and even stolen, from their parents and incarcerated, locked up, innocent children, often in , “for profit” concentration camps.
Only misuse and abuse can follow, because the plan and the perceived need for the plan is wicked and concocted, racist, opportunistic, criminal and fascist. It is wrong for humanity, for our survival.
We must learn to live together in peace, motivated by more than greed, personal gain and dominance.
The need to be “top dog”
Dominance,
“American Exceptionalism”,
The Greatest Nation,
“Great Again”,
The Race Bait again
Like a Big Fish
Hooked on the horror
Mega Wannabe Superior
The minute you think you’re Superior
You drop
To Mega
Inferior.
KKK
These kids are going to grow up one day
Remembering how you took them away
Put them in a cage
A cage
Like animals
A K K Kage
Koncentration Kamps for Kids
Actual Born Children.
Lee Boek, born and raised in the California Bubble, “first I was a teen-age evangelist whose ministry intersected with the civil rights movement while preaching in the southern United States. Then turning to the education I was warned never to get, to the anti war movement of the sixties, the environmental movement of the seventies and today. During this time I became a performer of satirical stories and sketches mostly based on my own life experiences. For the last nearly forty years I have been a member of and/or the Artistic Director of Public Works Improvisational Theatre”.
FASTER
9-22-20
9:00 a.m.
By Mary Cheung
Like a speeding bullet we want to jump the timeline and make things go faster.
We want to get our packages faster.
We want to get our food faster.
We want to get paid faster.
So impatient is our society...
There’s no time to slow down!
We want it now, from the minute we push the button.
We expect to turn around and have it in our hands.
Our movies are on demand and if we could,
our lives would be on demand as well!
Ah heck! just about.
I mean, we tell Alexa and she does it for us pronto!
But...how can we get it faster?
How can we transfer our desires,
to thought,
to reality in a second?
Cuz 2 seconds is too long.
We want it faster!
Mary Cheung 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”.
⚜Intermittently Me...
By Jackie Ray Phillips
Intermittent pieces of ecstasy
Sexily existing in the galaxy
Through this life
The passion and the energy
Seductively
Invitingly
Lovingly... Free
Is romance
The dance
Through space?
No time
No race
To face
The chase
Of Love
Peace and harmony
Adoringly
Through me
Touching the heart
The tender
The seductive part
At the start
Of something new
That only few
Can do
To me
Are you with me?
Intermittently
Jackie
The Poetess Reigns
2-28-2021
The Poetess Reigns aka JackieRay Phillips is Creator of The Poetry of Justice Show, Where Social Consciousness Meets the Arts. The Show is designed to spark the interest and awareness of social diversity ranging from arts, entertainment and social justice at large. Catch The Poetry of Justice Show Saturday nights 6:00-8:00pm PST Live @Yikesradio.com and @AcceleratedRadio.net in addition to all other podcast streaming platforms. You may also view and subscribe to the Show’s YouTube channel @The POJ Show. Follow us on IG @The POJ Show and FB @ The Poetry of Justice Show and JackieRay Phillips.
Oda a Brujas
By G. Billie Quijano
La Playa proved to be a vortex of love
It is written in the codices, hereinabove
La Bruja Magica entwined with the sirens of the sea
Flores, salvia, cartas all medicina for the we
The waves spoke, ebb and flow
Peace and healing make our hearts aglow
The universe released its golden ribbons
Dreams attached and guidance given
Third eye opens, intuition a gift
Read the antepasados glyphs
El Colibri flys high in vibration
Abrazos, besos, intentions, illuminations
G. Billie Quijano-Bruja, Mestiza, self taught Artista, Fotographer and Poeta, recently published in Modern Latina magazine.
I was born in the Corazon of East Los. The landscape of my childhood were elements of L.A. urban life. Cool concrete, balmy nights, vibrant colors, sounds of girl groups, low riders and Trio Los Panchos. Mexico was all around me, surrounded by calla lillies, cactus and sunflowers. My neighbor Rafael’s rooster was my alarm clock. Olvera Street was my playground. Saturday’s breakfast was the delicious aromas of menudo, carnitas and freshly made tortillas de maiz from our local tortilleria on Whittier Blvd. My work is my desire to keep my ancestors traditions, history and vision alive.
"For You, With Love, Your Pen" –
By Austin Musick
All you do is use me
Never giving back
Use me up til there's nothing left
The toss me back to black
Or worse yet you infuse me with your dreams, your rage, your pain
There it goes, my heart, again
Bleeds for you across this page.
Ah, but now you're feeling empty
and so am I in fact
Still, you loan me out to someone else as if I'm still in tact
But I gave and gave, gave it all to you
There's nothing more that I can do
And without your hand holding round my waist
There's nothing more to prove
Austin Musick, also known as Unitsi Ai, is a poet, lyricist, singer, and actor, originally from East Tennessee, now living in the Los Angeles area with her two daughters, two cats, one rabbit, and her main man/son she never got to have, her dog, Romeo.
With Love and Gratitude,
Austin
March Poem: 2021
By Ronald G. Carrillo
Always fighting demons
Trying not to lose my center
Staying on track with God
Paying dues and being an earthly squatter
On these streets of blues in L.A.
Temperatures getting hotter and people growing colder
It’s seldom the news is good in these pandemic times
But being a senior now I’m still learning
Staying on the straight and narrow
It’s harrowing each time I fall
My life roots are getting stronger
My godly instincts are deeper
My passions clearer and purer
I move forward surer
I have sparrow wings and God feeds me
Now I see you clearly
Your countenance is reflected in my eyes
My soul enlightens my vision of you
I had a false image of Eros
Love was then like chattel
And my youth was heretical
Like the Israelites I too was wandering in a desert of lust
Idolizing the golden calf of sin
Until I was reborn in a spiritual maturity
Now Eros has developed into a lush union
Reciprocal, having common ground, ever developing
Lust has been vanquished and exiled from our communion
My point of view altered and revigorated
I stand tall looking at you in the hues of Spring
My innocence returned as if it had never left me
Sending you thought kisses of my desire
Romantic heartbeat waves sent to love’s ethereal realm
Connect, respond, pickup, feel, inspire
2021 is our time a new crop on the vine soon to harvest
Correspond to me through the clouds
Send doves and yellow roses of friendship
We will build love’s foundation like romantic architects
I am a veteran of the heart wars
I was aching from battle scars
And truces that did not last
Treaties that were broken
Fidelity dissolving way too fast
Allies that betrayed me
Lovers that were players
Tom cats that could not be domesticated
My innocence faded in jealousy and depression
Having no control over a phenomenon that could not be controlled
Waiting for a new baptism
Coda: Reset for a new year romance
Resolution invitation to my heart
2021 muse of destiny
No mutiny on my horizon of love
Lucky Valentine path blooming
All-consuming Romeo yearning
No void in the heavens of learning
Perfume of desire speaking
Amorous dialect interconnecting
Detecting my complement
Awaiting tender passion through union
New year solution and communion
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.
Thanks for joining! We will continue to host writers and poets of all genres.
With great hope for a healthier future!
Love,
Linda Kaye
Please submit your written work to:lindakayepoetry@icloud.com and include a short bio.
Linda Kaye writes 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 most recent project a rap music video in collaboration with Mary Cheung, “ERACE-ISM” can also be seen on youtube. https://youtu.be/NfrbveNUBgg
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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 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.
www.lindakayepoetry.com
Twitter/Instagram: lindakayepoetry
www.laartnews.com