POETRY AND MUSIC NIGHT
This will be an on-going, interactive and artistic blog post. It will feature the poetry, music and anything creative that arises out of our monthly Poetry and Music Night, hosted by PK Coffee and Love University. Please share any artistic expression in the comment box below and let’s keep this blog alive. Here are some of the poetry and music that was shared during our first event on Tuesday, May 17, 2022.
Alone Together, Imprisoned and Free
by: Leo Hylton
We are imprisoned and free, she and I
confined to an existence separate, apart
looked upon as little more—or little less
than scavengers of garbage, stealers of
french fries, sandwiches, joy, and life
Yet, when she twirls midair, sun at her back
when my mind creates a world, a life at peace
you cannot tell us we are not free. It is you,
you, who are in prison.
You, who hears our unanswered cries
our screams for love, food, and compassion
You, who scorns our existence, who closes
eyes, ears, hearts, and minds to our pleas:
See us! Hear us! Acknowledge our beauty! Our worth!
So, here I sit, surrounded by concrete and steel, there
she flies, bathed in sunlight, caressed by clouds
Both imprisoned and free
Both longing for more
Both alone together.
**This poem is my moment sitting outside on the “Rec Deck” (the approx. 20’x22’ concrete-enclosed space attached to the back of my living unit where we can exercise, play basketball or handball, sit, or walk. ¾ of the ‘ceiling’ is comprised of chain-link fence, so we can see the sky beyond it.)
As they are the most commonly sighted animal here, I have spent much time over the past few years contemplating the similarities and differences between the lives of prisoners and seagulls. Today was no different. Although there were many seagulls outside my vision, there was only one that flew by overhead to say “hello”. It was she who inspired this poem. - LEO
I DOVE INTO THE OCEAN
by Julia Whitaker
I dove into the ocean
And turned into a cloud
I floated on emotions
And moved with the sounds
They echoed all around
Moving with the crowd
They grew too loud
I needed to come down
I needed to... rain...
rain.. rain.. rain... rain..
down on us
We’re made of the same
Formations that change
In these evolutionary games
Games games games
Who’s being played?
The clouds become the rain
The rain becomes the blood
In our veins
Rain rain rain rain
ALL IS ILLUMINATED
By Garin Samuelsen
all is illuminated
i let it all go
i groove
without friction
ablaze with light
fluid and free
dancing in
the delicacies
of this moment
i groove
with this wholeness
full of everything and nothing
and dive
into its sublime wilderness
i groove
within the melodies
of translucent currents
meandering
as open horizons
of days and nights
revolve into each other
into me
and here i am
I groove
as the burning embers
of the milky way’s
shimmering river of diamonds
glow elegantly
spilling gently into me
i groove
with revolving planets
buoyant
in the sun’s sea of gravity
i groove
with the jeweled earth
with its spinning and spinning
seasonal tides
i groove
with the fluidity of
the wild’s artistry
and landscapes
of sublime tapestries
i groove
with ancient forests
aged with
mists of time
gowning landscapes
in rhythmic circles
painting mandalas
with their
autumn pallets
i groove
with serpentine streams
cascading
down swollen mountains
carving through
arching valleys
making their ways back
into their ocean womb
i groove
into powers of mist
and its rush
of rain, ice and snow
i groove
into the quilt
of desert colors
and melt
into the
harsh complexity
of its unforgiving beauty
i groove
into the
wonders of
vast grasslands
Filled with
the grace
of wildflowers
and flow
into the poems
that slip upon
the curved edges
and long
emerald contours
that whirl and wave
with the wandering winds
I groove
within
the mirrored strands
penetrating tentacles
of roots and branches
of flora and fauna
of fungi and bacteria
of energy undivided
and share and release
myself with all
i groove
into the ecology of
geometry and artistry
the spires of architecture
splitting the sky
the throngs
and eloquence of people
i groove
as i walk
through mazes
woven
through invisible cities
and gardens
of forsaken paths
i drink in dark caverns
mulling over
leaves of grass
and count to 12
and dine in stillness
i groove
within cathedrals
filled with
symphonies of joy
and the intensity
of a requiem
i take a walk
down a bridge
on Brandenburg and 59th street
while thinking
of three questions
until i arrive
at golden gate park
i sit
while lazy clouds parade
around a deep blue sky
i notice rabbits
of watership down
while silenced voices circle in dialogue
and great prophets argue in righteous ignidations
i pass through
days and nights
other lifetimes
where oceanic mythologies
mingle with the present
where jazz
and blues pulsate
with the
lingering fullness
of compassion
curls through
these winding streets
as i wander
i catch eyes
with my heart of gold
and listen to
three little birds
weave the here and now
i carry
on the primordial beats
of uncle john’s band and
take a ride
along thunder road
as i walk
the rain pours down
and i find shelter
in the folk songs
that flow
through this land
i observe people
crying out
rising to the surface
of a silent spring
a call
to let freedom ring
so i continue
to play and
let it all go
i groove
into the
wildness of it all
as a living testament
of the
universal tapestry
i groove
into the
moment of death
the endings and unknowns
watching the phoenix
burning out
into ashes
i groove
as the phoenix awakens
into the
moment of conception
the birth of a moment
the birth of life
circling over and over again
i groove
mellow and free
whether playing
in the drama of
this society
or serene and present
in the cosmic bath
i can’t help
but flow
in this joy
i stop and gaze
breathing in
the wonders
that weave
and flow
through this
utter stillness
in this flow
i see there lies
nothing but now
and as i
continue to dance
grooving with
both old and young
rich and poor
plant and animal
i lift my voice
join with theirs
here the answer
blows in the wind
blowing always
within myself
and i see
that even
in all
these things
in the expressions
and ideas
assumptions and beliefs
is emptiness
I see
that the
flow moves
under it
through it
with it
along it
beyond it
for nothing
can ever
contain it
and i find that
here it all lies
within the open horizons
of myself