CLANGINGS: This is not a poem...!!!!

This is not a note about Ex-Lovers
It is about the stunning unbefriendable women across world
Fenced away by the unseen wings of space

This is not an epistle 
It is about la-di-dahs who in 4745 days of their love lives, 
Never ever bordered to send a love letter 
Or receive a gift of rose either

This is not a poem per se
It is a reminder to not hold back a good thing
Because, you temporarily are just a custodian
Of a heart- a baby’s heart seething 

This is not a battleground
It is the gun-sounds of your heart-shots
Rendering my body into a debris 

This is not about heartaches and breakups
It is trusting my teen daughter to not rely on my opinion
To date a guy I know not from Eve

This is not about stringing words or painting hieroglyph-ed prescriptions
For blind patients
It is about a deaf man blowing a cello to dead men, walking

This is not about uncertainty or errata 
It is about cats caterwauling at the sight 
Of hapless dancing butterflies

This is not about sextractions or macho-quotients
It is about knowing the truth
Tasting the truth, yet testing the truth
In order to believe the lies

This is not a poem
So I need you to stop looking out for tropes
Where there is no imagery or symbols

This is not about dance macabre
It is lilting on a foot and scratching your itch
when all you got is peppered nails of hunger

This again is not about smashing
It is about varying pleasure with pressure 
Twitching and switching tongue-speed,
at mastered angles of attack

This is not about Amnesty or honesty
It is about Travesty 
Of handling hoodlums consent
Of reincarnation with blazing cudgels 

This is not about incarceration 
It is about death coming
Brandishing kisses and saying
In a familiar dreamy voice-
‘I bring you good news from yonder’

This is not a screaming contest
It is a whimpering release
Sliding disbelief into disaffection
And expecting anything short of regrets

This is not about a loveless world 
It is about finding a best friend
And hoping not to be friend-zoned for life

This is not about getting lost in lust 
It is in you looking for me 
And me finding you at the crossroad

This is not about making heaven or love
It is about ascending to the climax of freedom
And resisting return to the waste and chaos of landfills 

This is not about ‘red things’; red chili pepper
Red-lips 
Bloody hot things you dare not sup with your mouth;
It is about the riotous fluxes sieving blazing load-stones

This not about banking on God or 
Maidens seeking sexual deposits
It is about temples where miracles are procured
With banged-mints in the bank of God

This is not about guns 
It is not about school kids
It is not about News men and new lies
It is about unaccounted cadavers whisked off at birth

This is not about emergencies and hospitals
It is about caregivers decapitating invalids
To allow beds for jaundiced parents of haemophilia

This is not about birth marks or stretchmarks
Rather, it is about the stub that registers the sacrifices you’ll never need to make again

This is not about defloration on a tomb-slab
It is about rage tattooed on the inner thighs of 
Forsaken kids.

This is not about Fate or Faith
Neither is it about the gospel
It is about indissoluble lies frothing
In fabricated mouths

This is not a dirge 
Nor is it a requiem in the funeral of a killer
It is about the unshed tears for kids who died kissing bombs in sleep
Guessing they were toys in real life

This is not a preachment about God
It is a soliloquy about demigods selling dogs
To feed their gods of unbelief

This I say is not your everyday verses
Or clichéd words strewn on paper
It is about the wounded lines you hear with
Your eyes
The forked words inveigling your eardrums

This is not about selfishness
It isn’t even about you
It is about the me in you
The you in me
it is about us

© Shittu Fowora 2013

Why Hasn't Spoken Word Found Its' Way into Mainstream Media? by EMichele Paul

Spoken Word is the art of performing poetry aloud. Poets, storytellers, and lyricists, have performed spoken word for centuries. Within the last 50 years, the art form has been "reformed" by poets such as Allen Ginsburg, Jewel, Saul Williams, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Shihan, Jill Scott, Common, Rudy Francisco, plus many others. You can find hundreds of poetry venues across the world on any given night. The audience can range from a few locals gathering together at a favorite coffee shop to a university event with over 300 people in attendance. There are even places that our military poets can go to and perform poetry while serving in overseas duty stations and in combat zones. Spoken Word is worldwide and very popular however, it has yet to make its' way into nationally syndicated television and radio stations.

Spoken word artists are reputable artists with a huge Indie following. An example would be "Shihan", an HBO Def Jam poet. He has sold over 14,000 CDs nationwide while touring and performing his poetry. As popular as the art form is, it has yet to earn its' place on a nationally recognized awards show or radio chart due to the lack of attention that it is given in the media. Yet, Soulja Boy and Waka Flaka are hyped up on radio stations across the country. When I listen to what mainstream considers good entertainment, my reaction is "Waka Flaka!!!" (censored).

Spoken Word can be found everywhere. You see and hear spoken word on television commercials and shows, Internet radio, viral videos, radio jingles, movies, and even in music. However, radio and television refuse to promote the genre, its' artists, or recognize it as a very influential and positive part of our American society. As a result, spoken word artists, even though they are more talented than most of the artists that pollute our airwaves, have to work ten times harder to make any profit from their craft. The profit being made by spoken word artists does not come from any form of mainstream media promotions. Artist sell their work by booking themselves on tours across the country, promoting their CDs, books and DVDs on their own websites, on-line stores, social networking sites for artists, and by performing at colleges and universities. Many times, the artists that go on these tours, pay for travel and other expenses, out of pocket. The money that they make will be just enough to cover their travel expenses.

Despite the lack of attention the major media moguls give spoken word, there is still a huge demand for it. This is evident in the quantity and quality of the crowds that venues pull during spoken word events. However, most radio stations refuse to play spoken word CDs because it is a niche genre and it doesn't appeal to the majority of their audiences. As a result, poets have to go "underground" to sell their work. The success of the artists selling his or her product is based primarily on his or her performance during the show. Once the artist leaves the show, there may be a buzz going around the community for a few days through word of mouth, but without constant airplay or visibility, the artist will have to wait until he or she makes another appearance to that city, before they can expect to make any more sales.

HBO Def Poetry Jam was the first weekly major spoken word program aired on cable television. Millions tuned in to watch each episode (a total of 6 seasons) and it was extremely successful. It sold DVDs of all of its' seasons and although the show no longer airs, the DVDs are still being sold. Many of the poets are still performing spoken word in addition to hosting spoken word events in their neighborhoods while others have moved on to other forms of entertainment but they are still deeply rooted in poetry. Poets give the HBO Def Poetry Jam credit for bringing this form of entertainment into the homes of an entirely new audience.

Up until HBO Def Poetry Jam came on the air, many people didn't have any idea what spoken word was about. Just like Russell Simmons took a chance and created a phenomenon, Russ Parr, Steve Harvey, or one of the other nationally renowned radio disc jockeys can do the same on radio. Millions of listeners turn on the radio throughout the day. The radio is played at work, home, school, in the car, on mobile phones, and even on cable stations. You can not escape radio. Rap and hip hop (both are rooted in poetry) were made popular because of radio however radio disk jockeys refuse to give any attention to spoken word.

Another question that should be raised is about the lack of attention given to Spoken Word at music award shows, ie the Grammys. Seriously, maybe half-witted entertainment without substance should be saluted and shown favor over things like values, morals, and education, nowadays. Maybe if spoken word was give more attention, our children would aspire to be something more than bling wearing, Ciroc drinking, thug wanna be's with video vixen girlfriends. Maybe our children would know that if most of these mainstream artists had even half of the "brain" that they claim to have, that they would know that spending more time in jail than in your community giving back doesn't doesn't make you cool, it makes you unemployable...and stupid!

With all of the "hype" about how music has taken a drastic turn for the worse over the last 20 years, bringing indie spoken word artists to mainstream media could possibly help reshape our mainstream form of entertainment and give us that breath of fresh air that we hope to sigh when we turn on our favorite radio station. If we as a nation are going "green" to help preserve our atmosphere, maybe we can include the way we choose to entertain ourselves as another way to protect the air...waves!

by EMichele Paul

http://voices.yahoo.com/why-hasnt-spoken-word-found-its-way-into-mainstream-7565836.html?cat=2

EMichele Paul - Poet, author, activist, mentor and founder of PoeticWorks. She has been writing poetry for over two decades and performing spoken word since 2005. Her sultry voice is soothing, flexible and warm. Her inspiring words are powerful, compelling and refreshing. She has a very unique style of story telling which shows throughout her poetry. She makes you exam life from different perspectives. She also dares you to test your left and right lateral limits while giving you the courage to define your own self worth.

Please do check out her blog at http://emichelepaul.blogspot.com/