#spoken word poetry
“You Could Be Next” by Caroline Rothstein. All rights reserved by author.
Caroline Rothstein’s Set List - Austin Poetry Slam, Austin, Texas, 10/29/13 (The Slut, How Not To Purge, Patience, You Could Be Next, Time Heals?, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For).
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Caroline Rothstein’s Set List - University of Wisconsin - Madison, 10/15/13 (The Slut, A Good Feminist, How Not To Purge, How to Have the Best Orgasm of Your Entire Life, To the poet who said “I want to make love to a raped woman,” How To Rekindle the Girl, Buoy, Here in My Head, You Could Be Next, Midas Touch, Other Messages, What I Learned in College).
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Caroline Rothstein’s Set List, Middle Georgia State College - Warner Robbins, 10/10/13 (Fat, You Could Be Next, How To Have the Best Orgasm of Your Entire Life, For You, House, Midas Touch, Life Worth, What I Learned in College).
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Caroline Rothstein’s Set List, Georgia Highlands College - Cartersville, 10/10/13 (You Could Be Next, Fat, I Could Never Have a Homophobic Lover, For You, An Invitation To Let Go, Midas Touch, Therapy, Life Worth, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For, How to Have the Best Orgasm of Your Entire Life, What I Learned in College).
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Caroline Rothstein’s Set List, University of North Georgia - Oconee, 10/9/13 (Cover: A Litany Of Survival by Audre Lorde, You Could Be Next, When, An Invitation To Let Go, I Could Never Have a Homophobic Lover, How To Rekindle The Girl, Fat, How Not To Purge, Therapy, Where’s the Referee?, Life Worth, What I Learned in College).
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Caroline Rothstein’s Set List, Georgia Highlands College - Floyd, 10/8/13 (You Could Be Next, Fat, Chicago Bulls A Monologue, Life Worth, How to Have the Best Orgasm of Your Entire Life, For You, When, Jewish Assimilation, How Not To Purge, Midas Touch, Therapy, I Could Never Have a Homophobic Lover, What I Learned in College).
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Caroline Rothstein’s Set List, Georgia Highlands College - Douglasville, 10/7/13 (Fat, You Could Be Next, How To Have the Best Orgasm of Your Entire Life, How to Rekindle the Girl, For You, My Whiteness, House, Life Worth, For Bernie Madoff, What I Learned in College).
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(You can visit my instagram page @jungleflowerenergy to view the closed captioned version of this poem)
TOXIC MASCULINITY - Please repost!
I was NOT expecting this to happen. Please tag someone who would appreciate this
I’d written Firefly, my first poem, only because someone had asked me to. I didn’t consider myself a poet and wrote nothing again until a year later (2013) when @jeffperera invited me to perform something for a conference he created around ending toxic masculinity. I wrote this piece for it and this was the first time I performed it. I was battling stage fright the entire time.
Waiting for my turn to perform, I was shaking. My friends gathered lovingly around me and prayed. Along with the stage fright I was also terrified that I would forget my words which is why you’ll see me clutching my notebook for dear life. You’ll also later see me shaking my head in disbelief because this outcome was the last thing I was expecting. My fear of public speaking dissipated after this. During a phase in my life where I spent a lot of energy dodging cameras, to have this major turning point caught on film (by Paul) was such a blessing. Grateful to see intelligent souls like @patrickcwalters@seedandcerassee@letssavematthew@rene_riiise@joanneswritingsand@mstoddart68 going off in the audience.
They say fear is the opposite of love, and it seems like the more fears I face, the more I find myself surrounded by a loving community. I had major stage fright and I never claimed the title ‘poet’, but here I stand as living proof that our throat chakras are strengthened when we speak our truth.
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Nov 16 in Toronto. Link in bio #jungleflowerdragonheart
Earlier on in the year before the lockdown, the national poetry day asked me to write something on the theme they had for 2020 which is “vision: see it like a poet” so wrote and recorded this at home.
I feel like if I had done this now after everything in the world had gone crazy it would be different but I still love this and stand by it!
I have done this with music, without music in primary schools, secondary schools, colleges, universities, corporate functions, festivals, prisons, stadiums, clubs, concerts, the streets and in every kind of situation. The aim is to go in and let your stories, your poetry, your bars and your art speak and hopefully connect in some vital way.
I have a limited time to win people who have probably never even heard of me over. I love it that I am not that known for this reason because when it goes well, it shows that it was only the words and the way I delivered them that connected and mattered. I have no real hype or “fame” to get the crowd going. It’s the thrill of the challenge to deliver that keeps things exciting.
Now I do actually do things WITH music that I made myself (I produce all my music) but when I do it without music to “help” the words connect and people respond to what I’m delivering, it’s a feeling unlike any other. This is what I do. Put me anywhere. I will bring it! I even come off the top of the dome and totally improvise because that’s what we emcees do!
I decided to do a “Five Fav Fridays” series, just listing a few great things about my life, things I’ve enjoyed, or whatever else I’d like, on Fridays.
1. Pure Leaf Iced Sweet Tea
Pure Leaf Iced Sweet Tea is my favorite brand of iced sweet tea. I’m a sucker for sweet tea, given my insane sweet tooth and love for tea, but Pure Leaf has managed to create a tea that isn’t too sweet, but not too bitter either. Plus, it’s only a few bucks at the grocery store! Perfect.
2. Spoken Word Poetry
Spoken Word Poetry has a very special place in my heart. I’ve spent numerous hours on YouTube, Vimeo, and Ted Talks, watching in amazement how these strangers can pull so many emotions out of me with their own. Spoken word is amazing, and if you haven’t checked any of it out, I’ll post some of my favorites below.
Sarah Kay: If I Should Have A Daughter
3. Homecoming Football Game
My home town is known for having an intense virus of school spirit. Homecoming is nothing short of crazy, intense, and wild, all in good fun. Tonight is the homecoming football game, and, being a recent graduate, I’m really excited to watch the game and see the Homecoming Court be presented during half time. My little brother is a running back for the team and I’m really looking forward to watching him play and run the ball! Friday nights were meant for football.
4. Cute School Supplies
Cute school supplies are a must! Especially now that I’m in college, I want to be excited to do my school work and be successful. Cute pens and organization helps! (Though my desk drawer isn’t that cute).
I bought this chevron binder for .49 cents and already had this coral monogram sticker, so I combined the two and woolah! I have a cute binder to put my text book! Annoyingly, two of my text books came as a stack of loose papers, so this was a trendy solution.
Cute pens and personalized stationary is also essential. I bought these pens at Target in the $1 section! They come in a pack of two and are super cute, but don’t last very long. But, they’re trendy and only .50 cents! My monogrammed paper I made, easily by printing it out from Microsoft Word onto blank white paper! So easy and cute!
5. New Riding Boots
Unfortunately, my Steve Madden boots I bought last January have come to an end. It’s been a great 9 months, but they’re just too worn to wear now. Luckily for me, that meant it was time to buy new boots! I saw these in Target (online here) and thought, “I have to buy these.” I’m so glad I did! They were only $39.99 (a steal) and are so comfy and cute! My Target was running out of them, so I would recommend getting them soon or ordering them online if you’re looking for a reasonably priced riding boot!
Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a great Friday!
Fin.
Sean @ligayakomiks PRESENTS
#LIGAYACRUSHCON
A FUNDRAISING EVENT FOR LIGAYA KOMIKS
MAY 21, 2016
888 VIBERS
8PM
WITH
OURSELVES THE ELVES
OH, FLAMINGO!
MILESEXPERIENCE
BENNYBUNNYBAND
AT THE MOMENT
TOM’S STORY
MONDAYS @ 4
AND SPECIAL SPOKEN WORD PERFORMANCES BY ZUELA HERRERA AND FRANZ PANTALEON
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FLIPGEEKS
ENTRANCE: P250
RSVP HERE: https://www.facebook.com/events/934544839997942/
Posters by Faye Bergonia, Marian Hukom, Aze Granada, Sian Riza Malolos, Juliana Therese Cacha, Nathanielle Onchengco, and Sean Tan.
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“Heroes” by spoken word poet Boonaa Mohammed.
In the second installment of Word: Collected Poetry Trace DePass contemplates how poetry can entrap, rather than release, past traumas and hardships. Filmed on location at Kenkeleba House Garden in the East Village.
[[Video: An exploration of the Kenkeleba House Garden, an outdoor green space in New York City filled with sculptures by African-American artists, the film begins by coming through the front gate and panning around to view a person (Trace DePass) sitting in the garden, then at the various installations in it. This happens throughout the film, interspersed with shots of the life happening in the neighborhood outside the garden and Trace interacting with the space. The film returns several times to a realistic metal sculpture of a man standing, his next straining to one side and a more abstract sculpture of a figure made out of metal and blue glass.]]
I met you and everything changed.
you were worth whatever pain I knew love to have.
and I had lots of it stored under my chest and inside my brain.
I had been hurt again and again.
I should be afraid
but you make me feel safe.
you have these big brown eyes that remind me of all the chocolate you eat.
and i’m convinced all this sugar is making you sweeter,
because I know if I need you there’s not a moment you won’t be there.
you are my lazy mornings, my afternoon naps, my midnight chats.
you are my sue chef, my travel buddy, my study partner.
you are my favorite adventure.
you are impossible to say goodnight to.
you are full of tight hugs I never want to leave.
you are a blanket for my anxiety.
and I don’t know how I got so lucky
and I don’t know how someone can make me so happy.
but you are the perfect combination of everything I need.
—MO
“it was safer to talk about the weather; I just had to make sure he didn’t associate me with sunshine”
—MO
You are the first person
To see me as a yellow garden.
To reach for my hand on public transportation,
The most unromantic location,
Just to let me know you are here.
To tell me I am beautiful when I decide makeup is too much work.
You are the first person in a long time that doesn’t make me cripple in nervousness.
And that doesn’t mean I like you any less,
It doesn’t mean I’m suppressing the natural anxiety inside of me,
It means you are good at making me happy.
I never have to worry about your thoughts,
Because you’re pretty easy to read,
And you tell me every time you’re thinking about me.
You make me feel like I’m fourteen,
Only this time around I’m not afraid to send 10 texts in a row and be a little cocky.
We’re stealing kisses behind doors as soon as our friends leave,
And we’re racing down floors of the metro,
Pushing each other to the finish line as an excuse to be close.
And what gets me the most,
Is that I didn’t want to like you.
I didn’t know how to risk my feelings again when I was still healing.
I didn’t know if I could date again without my insides shaking.
But then you made me laugh like a child,
You let me be as a wild as I needed,
Yet held out your hand for security.
And I forgot my heart had been breaking;
Because it is so difficult to think of anything other than you.
—I think you’re a yellow garden too
MO
we’re always spending our twenties trying to get to the next best thing.
—I think we forget that our twenties may be the best we ever have it.
“after we broke up, my whole world fell apart for a little bit; and then one morning everything was fine.”
—someone else makes me happy now
MO
I’m the kind of girl who will ask you about your deepest fears and greatest love. but I told myself I wasn’t going to have feelings this time; so i’m trying not to understand you. i’m trying not to ask questions. I trying to run from conversation.
I don’t think it’s working.
stop holding my hand
“there is something about a summer in paris that is healing me.”
—what if I can’t take this back home?
the summer I was truly happy, we didn’t even speak.
—maybe you aren’t my everything
anytime someone starts a sentence with, “but you were doing so much better!” I want to tell them the amount of times i’ve cried since tuesday. if it seems like i’m doing better, i’m just holding myself up with duct tape.
-but hey, maybe that is improvement
Is it worse to not have cried in two and a half years, or to have cried 6 times since Tuesday?
it’s better to have felt, I suppose
it’s like i’m not allowed to be insecure because I’m the friend that gets phone numbers and dates.
but tell me why no one ever stays.
—I wish I was captivating for more than a first impression
MO
during heartbreak it is easiest to surround myself with douchebags. never once do they ask me how I am, and never once do I want to tell them.
—can everyone else stop asking me if i’m okay
MO
my favorite thing about myself has always been my loyalty.
it wasn’t until recently
I realized my crown might be hurting me.
therapy taught me something.
if I keep living a life for the people around me, then I am just reaching their goals.
but I was put on this planet to be my own
and I need to pave my own roads.
—even though tailgating is so much easier
MO
unknowingly, he dropped me off right next to your car.
she was with you, and I got so mad.
but wasn’t I doing the same thing?
—riding shotgun in boys’ cars to fill some sort of void.
MO
maybe i’m just distracting myself. maybe i’m using them so there’s no room to think of you. maybe having good days gives my brain something else to do.
—maybe I’m healing
MO
maybe i’m just distracting myself. maybe i’m using them so there’s no room to think of you. maybe having good days gives my brain something else to do.
—maybe I’m healing
MO
never let him ruin a song for you that plays on the radio; you will never heal.
—MO
“now I know why they compare heartbreak to drowning; it is so damn hard to breathe when I think about you.”
—MO
on the nights i’m feeling my best, dancing on stages and running across fields, I’m still doing it for you.
I don’t bury my heartbreak in my bedroom because there is no place for me to show off.
-MO
“it is okay if your heart is still shaking,
if it feels like bits of you are breaking off with each day.
God meant for you to feel this way
so he could shape you:
adding wheels and an engine,
making you into something
that can move on.”
—an excerpt from this poem I wrote
anytime someone starts a sentence with, “but you were doing so much better!” I want to tell them the amount of times i’ve cried since tuesday. if it seems like i’m doing better, i’m just holding myself up with duct tape.
-but hey, maybe that is improvement
